Barely two months after the presidency handed over two aircraft in the Presidential fleet to the Nigerian Air Force, reports states that the Agusta AW 101, one of
the ballistics defense capable aircraft, a medium-lift helicopter specially designed for military operations, reportedly crashed at the Nigerian Air Force base, Makurdi.
In view of this, the Nigerian Air Force has refuted the media report on the crash of the Agusta Westland 101 helicopters handed over recently by the Presidency, this was disclosed in a press statement made available to news men by the Director of Public Relations and Information, Group Captain Famuyiwa today in Abuja. The statement noted that Contrary to the crash report, it is pertinent to state that the mishap occurred while the helicopter was taxing after a successful mission. The incident happened last week on the tarmac at 33 Logistics Group, Markudi.
According to the statement, “The NAF has since set-up a board of officers to investigate the immediate and remote causes of the incident. The 7-man board is headed by Air Vice Marshal Emmanuel Anebi. Details of the investigation would be communicated to the public as soon as the Board concludes its assignment”.
Recall that, the Presidency had on October 10, 2016 handed over the two ballistics defense capable aircraft from the Presidential fleet to the Nigerian Air Force, with a view to reduce government’s expenditure, Agusta AW101, which is a large armored helicopter cost about $21million each (N10.5billion) making it 130% more expensive than the average aircraft of its class.
During the handover ceremony at the Presidential wing of the Abuja Airport, the Chief of Air Staff, AVM Abubakar who received the aircraft said one of the aircraft would be configured and deployed as ambulance while the second would be deployed as troop carrier, especially for operations against the Boko Haram sect in the North-eastern region of the country.