Nigeria Air Force Battles To Rescue Crew Members, Passengers On Crashed Aircraft, Probes Cause Of Accident 

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has confirmed the crash of its aircraft while en route to Niger State on Monday.

Confirming the incident in a statement, the NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet said the aircraft was on a casualty evacuation mission when it crashed, adding that efforts were ongoing to rescue the crew and passengers of the aircraft.

Gabkwet said the aircraft departed Zungeru Primary School en route to Kaduna but was later discovered to have crashed in a village in the Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State.

The statement read, “A Nigerian Air Force MI-171 Helicopter on a casualty evacuation mission crashed today, August 14, 2023, at about 1.1.00 pm Chukuba Village in Niger State.

“The aircraft had departed Zungeru Primary School en route Kaduna but was later discovered to have crashed near Chukuba Village in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State.

“Efforts are currently ongoing to rescue the crew and passengers on board the helicopter, while preliminary investigations have commenced to determine the probable cause of the crash.”

He, however, did not state the number of passengers or crew members on the aircraft.