One of the helicopters in the Presidential fleet on Friday crashed in Lagos injuring all four persons on board.
The helicopter, a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Super Puma, carrying two pilots and two passengers, was said to have crashed around 11am at the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMIA).
Although the NAF claims the aircraft was being used for training, The Nation learnt that it crashed landed immediately after takeoff.
It was learnt that one of the blades of the helicopter broke, leading to inferno. However, timely response from the emergency agencies stationed at the airport saved the lives of the four occupants, who were immediately taken away by NAF personnel.
When contacted, the spokesman, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) for the southwest, Ibrahim Farinloye said the wreckage of the aircraft has been taken away.
He said: ” “One of the helicopter in the presidential fleet crashed landed immediately after take off in the MMIA with two pilots and two passengers.”They sustained minor injuries due to the prompt response by emergency responders including that of the Airport fire services.
“The fire was put out quickly in order to rescue the trapped victims, thus no life was lost. The NAF has since removed the wreckage of the crashed chopper.”
Also reacting to the incident, NAF’s
Director of Public Relations (DOPRI), Air Commodore DJ Alonge, admitted there was a mishap but stressed that no life was loss. He said, “A Super Puma helicopter belonging to the Nigerian Air Force on training mission in Lagos at about 10am returning to the Apron after the completion of the training exercise suffered severe damage.
“The damage was due to hydraulic failure in taxi to the hangar. There was no casualty recorded, however, the main rector debris caused damage to some ground equipment.”
Consequently, the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal AN Amosun has ordered immediate investigation to unravel the circumstances that led to the accident247nigerianewsupdate.co.
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