Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, on Wednesday, visited the site of the Nigerian Air Force aircraft crash at Igbokoda, ordering a sustained search for the remains of the victims and wreckage of the aircraft.
Aiyedatiwa, while speaking at the scene of the incident, described the air crash as a national tragedy.
On Monday at about 11:00am, the military aircraft with 25 passengers and crew on board, which was on a special mission from Benin to Lagos, crashed at Igbokoda.
The governor visited the crash site in company with personnel of the Nigerian Navy and Air Force, divers, the National Emergency Management Agency Director for the South-West and locals involved in the recovery efforts.
Describing the scene as a “very gory sight” Aiyedatiwa said human body parts, clothes, jackets belonging to the Air Force personnel and broken aircraft parts had been recovered and preserved for further investigation.
The governor said the difficulty in accessing the crash site prompted him to direct the Ministry of Works to deploy two amphibious machines, popularly known as swamp boogies, to improve access through the waterways.
He said the main body of the aircraft was yet to be sighted, adding that machines had enabled recovery teams to move bigger boats closer to the site to excavate the soil in search of other parts of the main body of the aircraft.
Aiyedatiwa added that Navy personnel and local divers were continuing the search in the deeper sections of the area for possible bodies and the cockpit.
“From construction experience and analysis of this area, for you to get to refusal level, it’ll get to about 30 metres deep,” he said.
He further disclosed that jet fuel was flowing into the water, resulting in pollution of the area with aviation fuel.
The governor expressed gratitude that the aircraft did not crash in the middle of the community, saying such an occurrence would have resulted in a major catastrophe.
He added, “Only the pilot would have been able to explain the efforts made to manoeuvre the aircraft. From accounts given by residents, they saw the aircraft descending with what sounded like an engine problem.
“It was coming down and almost appeared set to crash within the community. However, the pilot was able to manoeuvre the aircraft and bring it down about 200 metres away from the community before it went into the swampy area.
“The terrain is so soft that it appears the aircraft may have sunk deep into the mud, which is why it has not been seen.
“From construction experience and analysis of the terrain, reaching refusal level during piling operations in this area can require going as deep as 35 to 40 kilometres.”
Commander of the Nigerian Navy Forward Operating Base, Igbokoda, Capt. Andy Alemongwa, briefed the governor on the progress of the search and recovery operations.
