A Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Beechcraft King Air B350 aircraft (NAF 201) aircraft has crashed on Sunday 21 February.
The NAF Beechcraft KingAir B350i aircraft crashed while returning to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International, Abuja from Minna Airport after reporting engine failure.
Six persons on board, including two crew, has been reported dead.
Military Africa gathered that the aircraft was on a mission to try to rescue 42 people, including students and staff abducted from their boarding school in the town of Kagara on Wednesday, when it turned back following engine failure.
The Beechcraft King Air B350 aircraft is used both as a light transport aircraft and as an Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft in the Air Force.
The Director of Public Relations and Information, NAF Headquarters, AVM Ibikunle Daramola, confirmed the accident in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.
Consequently, the Chief of Air Staff (CAS), AVM Oladayo Amao, has ordered an immediate investigation into the incident.
“CAS, on behalf of all NAF personnel, commiserated with the families of the deceased,’’ Daramola stated.
For this past few years, the NAF has lost some of its aircraft. In 15 November 2019, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) lost an AgustaWestland AW-109 light utility and transport helicopter.
Also, in January 2019, a Russian-Made Mil Mi-35M attack helicopters crashed.
Similarly, in July 2017, another AgustaWestland AW 109 helicopter was forced down on a body of water by the crew after it developed a technical glitch.