HOW SEVEN DIED IN KADUNA AIRFORCE PLANE CRASH.

A light military plane, Dornier 2k,  has   crashed in Kaduna with all seven on board feared dead. 

The plane, which took off   from Dana Airport, operated by the Nigeria Air Force, NAF, in Kaduna, came down some minutes after at the Kantoma Army Barracks, otherwise known as the NDA Barracks, around 6. 45am on Saturday morning, a source said..

At the time of this report, all movement into and outside the barracks  was barred.

PILOT OF THE PLANE - LATE  KUNLE SUARA

But a top military brass in Kaduna, who spoke shortly after leaving the scene of the accident, said all on board perished.

He said: “It is true. A Dornier 2k plane crashed this morning at the NDA Barracks. There were seven people on board.  None of them survived”.

It was gathered that the pilot, co-pilot, two engineers and three passengers were on  board  the plane, which was on its way to Abuja.

A  NAF statement, yesterday, by Air Commodore Dele Alonge, Director of Airforce Public Relations, confirmed the incident, saying: “A  Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Dornier-228 aircraft, with registration NAF030, has crashed into a house at Ribadu Cantonment, Kaduna.

“Though no casualty was recorded on ground, there were no survivors among the passengers on board the aircraft.

“The aircraft was Abuja bound and had taken-off at about 6:45am from the Kaduna Military Airfield before the mishap.

“Bodies of the passengers have been recovered and fire fighters are already at the crash site to curtail fire from spreading to other buildings within the vicinity”.

Last night, the Chief  of the Air Staff,  Air Vice Marshal Sadique  Abubakar, expressed deep pain over the crash, saying a board had been constituted to investigate the immediate and remote cause of the sad incident.

Abubakar, who spoke yesterday at the 97 Special Operations Group, Air Force Base, Port Harcourt, after a visit to the scene of the  incident in Kaduna, said it was tragic, adding that he will not want to pre-empt the outcome of the findings of the body set up to unravel the circumstances.

He said he had consoled the families of those involved in the crash.

“These are some of the hazards associated with flying. We  have set up a board to immediately find out the immediate and remote causes of the accident . We will look at the report of that board to see the cause. It was a very tragic one . I have gone to condole the families, the pilots that were involved in the accident. I don’t want to pre-empt the findings of the board we set up to come up with its findings”, the NAF Chief said.

Fielding questions from newsmen, he said he was in Port Harcourt  to  charge the fighting spirit of his men against oil theft and illegal oil bunkering, adding that the airforce had acquired a marine patrol aircraft to enhance its  operations around the marine environment of the country.