A senior Air Traffic Controller has revealed that the Nigerian Air Force ATR-42 aircraft that crashed in Igbokoda, Ondo State, disappeared from radar shortly after taking off from Benin City, Edo State, on Monday.
The aircraft, with tail number NGR 931, was travelling to Lagos when air traffic controllers lost contact with it at about 9:13am.
The aircraft subsequently crashed into a swampy area near the Naval Base in Igbokoda, the headquarters of Ilaje Local Government Area.
The Air Traffic Controller, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to comment publicly, said communication with the aircraft was established shortly after take-off before contact was suddenly lost.
“When the aircraft took off, we were in touch with it shortly afterward, but it disappeared from the radar. Efforts to reach it were unsuccessful,” the source said.
According to the source, personnel at nearby reporting points in Okitipupa later reported hearing a loud bang believed to have been the sound of the crash.
The source said the military immediately began search-and-rescue efforts after the aircraft disappeared from radar.
“Almost immediately after it took off, we lost communication with it. There was no communication, nothing. And that makes it suspicious. The aircraft just vanished until the crash.”
The source, however, stressed that the circumstances surrounding the crash would only become clearer after the search, recovery and investigation had been completed.
The development was also confirmed by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, who said air traffic controllers had informed him that the aircraft had disappeared while travelling from Benin to Lagos.
“Air Traffic Controllers have informed me of the disappearance of a military aircraft with tail number NGR 931, enroute Lagos from Benin at 0913 hours earlier today. All efforts to raise the aircraft on radio proved abortive,” Keyamo said.
Keyamo later confirmed that the wreckage had been located close to the Naval Base in Igbokoda and that search-and-rescue operations were underway.
The minister said 32 people, comprising 25 passengers and seven crew members, were on board the aircraft.
The Nigerian Air Force subsequently confirmed that the aircraft was an ATR-42 on a routine mission from Benin to Lagos. The service said it had activated an immediate search-and-rescue operation in coordination with relevant authorities and emergency agencies.
As the operation continued, access to the crash site proved difficult because the aircraft had plunged into a swampy area within the creek.
Local fishermen reportedly joined military personnel and emergency responders in efforts to reach the wreckage.
One eyewitness said:
“I could see the military men in the area while some local fishermen too were helping out, but it seems difficult to remove the wreckage because the plane forcefully entered into the swampy area.”
Another resident, identified as Sola, said the crash occurred while it was drizzling.
He said residents heard a loud sound but could not immediately reach the area because of the swampy terrain.
The Nigerian Air Force said it was working with relevant authorities to establish the circumstances of the accident, while the Ondo State Police Command also confirmed that an investigation had commenced.
Police spokesman DSP Abayomi Jimoh urged residents to remain calm and avoid circulating unverified information.
Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa later said no survivor had been found at the crash site at the time he spoke to Channels Television. He said residents and security personnel had located parts of the aircraft, military uniforms and other items.
President Bola Tinubu expressed sadness over the crash and directed the Nigerian Air Force to conduct a thorough investigation into its cause.
The Presidency also confirmed that the aircraft was carrying 25 passengers and seven crew members on a routine Benin-to-Lagos mission.
Tinubu subsequently declared three days of national mourning for Air Force personnel who died in the crash and directed that national flags be flown at half-mast across the country. The State House said the Nigerian Air Force would release the names of the deceased after their families had been contacted.
The National Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) said the crash involved a military aircraft and therefore fell outside its statutory mandate unless formally invited by the military authority.
The loss of radar contact is expected to form part of the investigation, alongside the aircraft’s flight path, communication with air traffic controllers, weather conditions, maintenance history, technical condition and cockpit data.
The aircraft’s flight recorder, commonly referred to as the black box, is also expected to be important in determining what happened during its final moments.
For now, the exact cause of the crash has not been established. Authorities are expected to rely on the recovered wreckage, air traffic records, flight data, weather information and other evidence to determine why the NAF ATR-42 disappeared from radar shortly after take-off before crashing in Igbokoda.
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