• Says aircraft wreckage speaks to investigators

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has commenced an intensive operation to recover the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder from its ATR-42 aircraft that crashed into a swamp in Igbokoda, headquarters of the Ilaje Local Council of Ondo State, killing all 25 people on board.

According to the NAF, investigators are determined to unravel the circumstances behind the crash, which has been described as one of the country’s deadliest military aviation disasters in recent years.

The aircraft, which was conducting a routine mission from Benin City, Edo State, to Lagos, went down on Monday near the Nigerian Navy’s Forward Operating Base in Igbokoda, claiming the lives of 20 passengers and five crew members, with the wreckage submerged in the swampy terrain, thereby complicating recovery efforts.

Speaking at the crash site on Friday, the NAF Superintendent of Standards and Evaluation, Air Vice Marshal Ebimobo Ebiowe, confirmed that investigators were searching for the flight data recorder, commonly known as the “black box,” and the cockpit voice recorder.

According to him, the components are critical to the ongoing investigation that could provide vital clues about the aircraft’s final moments before the tragedy.

“We hope to be able to find critical components of the aircraft that will speak to the investigators because the aircraft wreckage actually speaks to the investigators.

“One of them is what the ordinary man calls the black box. We call it the flight data recorder, and another component close to it, the cockpit voice recorder,” Ebiowe stated.

Aviation experts have emphasised that recovering and analysing the devices could provide essential evidence for reconstructing the aircraft’s final moments, though their findings would need to be assessed alongside other evidence gathered from the wreckage and crash site.

One of the experts, Mr. Olugbenga Afolabi, explained that the recorders serve distinct but complementary investigative purposes.

“The flight data recorder captures information about an aircraft’s performance and flight parameters, while the cockpit voice recorder preserves cockpit conversations, alarms and other sounds that could help investigators understand the crew’s actions before the crash,” Afolabi said.

The development follows the Nigerian Navy’s deployment of specialised sonar equipment to locate the submerged aircraft as recovery operations continue in the challenging swamp environment.

The Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Idi Abbas, had directed the Nigerian Navy Hydrographic Department to deploy personnel and advanced sonar-scanning equipment to the site to obtain an underwater picture of the crash location.

Abbas said the deployment became necessary because of the swamp’s high turbidity, which has made underwater visibility extremely difficult.

The Commanding Officer of the Officers’ Mess at the Forward Operating Base, Igbokoda, Navy Captain Andy Alemongwa, who received the personnel, said the sonar survey would help map the crash site and establish the precise location of the submerged aircraft.

“The operation is also being supported by Nigerian Navy divers and NAF drone pilots conducting searches across the surrounding mangrove and forested areas,” Alemongwa said.

The Flag Officer Commanding, Western Naval Command, Rear Admiral Abubakar Abdullahi Mustapha, and the Air Officer Commanding, Logistics Command, NAF, Air Vice Marshal Abubakar Abdul Suleh, were also on the ground to inspect the crash site.

Earlier, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke, assured that the military would conduct a comprehensive investigation to establish the circumstances surrounding the crash and prevent a recurrence.

Aneke, who appealed to the public to avoid speculation, said a high-level team comprising military and civilian aviation safety experts had been constituted to investigate the incident.