Nigeria: Another Tragedy Averted As NAF Helicopter Makes Precautionary Landing in Benue
Barely 48 hours after the fatal crash involving a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) ATR-42 aircraft in Igbokoda, Ondo State, another NAF helicopter has made a precautionary landing in Benue State during an air interdiction operation in Ogbadigbo, a border town between Benue and Enugu States.
The incident occurred barely 24 hours after the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke, and the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo (SAN), called for joint aviation safety measures to prevent frequent air mishaps involving military aircraft.
The call became imperative following the military’s record of at least 10 air mishaps in the past decade, some of which resulted in tragic fatalities, including the death of the former Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt Gen Ibrahim Attahiru, and other senior military officers aboard a Nigerian Air Force Beechcraft King Air 350i (NAF203) aircraft en route to Kaduna on May 21, 2021.
