By OUR REPORTER
A Nigerian military aircraft, King Air 350, has crashed in Abuja killing all seven people on board.
This sad event occurred when the plane crash-landed on approach to Abuja airport on Sunday, a spokesman for Nigerian Air Force said.
“All 7 personnel on board died in the crash,” Air Vice Marshal Ibikunle Daramola said on Twitter.
He added that the Chief of the Air Staff has ordered an immediate investigation into the incident.
Confirming the crash earlier, the country’s Minister of Aviation, Debtor Hadi Sirika, had said:
“A military aircraft King Air 350 has just crashed short of our Abuja runway after reporting engine failure enroute (to) Minna. It appears to be fatal.”
In a follow-up communication Sunday afternoon, a spokesman at the Ministry of Aviation, James Odaudu, said the “aircraft reported engine failure at time 10:39 and crashed landed on the final approach path of Abuja Runway 22 at time 10:48UTC.”
Odaudu said fire fighters have been deployed to the scene to put out a raging blaze that had engulfed the airplane.
An aviation worker, who asked not to be named citing lack of official clearance to talk to the press, said that he witnessed the crash.
“The crash occurred not very far from the runway. The pilot had tried returning to the runway after taking off,” he said.
