Officers feared dead in another Air force jet crash

A jet belonging to the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has crashed in Kaduna State. It was gathered that some personnel onboard the jet were feared dead.

Air Force spokesman did not immediately respond to message sent to him.

The latest incident in Kaduna makes it five air crashes involving Nigerian military planes in the last one year.

An air force Alphajet had crashed in Zamfara State last year after an intense fire from bandits. Although, but the pilot survived by ejecting from the aircraft.

A NAF203 plane crash that killed the then Chief of Army Staff and 10 others. A Beechcraft King350 airplane -NAF201 had crashed in February 20021, killing all eight officers onboard.

In April 2021 a Nigerian Air force fighter jet was declared missing and suspected to have crashed. While Boko Haram claimed to have shot it down, the military denied the claim.

Air Force spokesman, Edward Gabkwet, later said the crash occurred as the Alpha jet, a light attack aircraft, was returning to base from a mission on the Zamfara-Kaduna border.

Deadly plane crashes in military operations had raised concerns over safety of the airspace in general.

Aviation stakeholders noted that though the development was blight on the nation’s safety record in global aviation, the sequence of occurrences raises a ‘red flag’ to warrant new precautionary measures to avert more disasters, especially during the rainy season.