The Nigerian air force says the qualifications of its pilots
should not be called into question.
A Beechcraft 350 belonging to Nigerian air force (NAF) had
crashed around the Kaduna international airport last Friday, killing Ibrahim
Attahiru, late chief of army staff, and 10 other military officers who were on
board the plane.
The air crash was the third crash over the past three
months, involving a military aircraft.
Though the defence headquarters had said the air crash was caused by bad weather, some Nigerians had questioned the experience of the pilots and had called for a proper investigation into the incident.
But speaking on the incident, Edward Gabkwet, NAF director
of public relations and information, said the qualification and experience of
Taiwo Asaniyi, the flight captain, should not be questioned.
He said the late flight captain had been flying since he was
a cadet at the Nigerian Defence Academy and had flown more hours than some
senior officers.
“On people saying a senior ranking officer should have flown
the Chief of Army Staff and others, people don’t know him,” he said.
“He and the pilot flying the President are both Flight
Lieutenants. He flew more hours than some of us. He had been flying since his
time at the Nigerian Defence Academy. He started flying as a cadet.
“As a captain on the Beechcraft, he had flown 2,450 hours,
which was in 2019. So he would have flown nothing less than 5,000 hours since
his cadet days. He had been flying the COAS and other VVIPs on that same
Beechcraft. He was 29 years old. Because he had an accident doesn’t mean he
didn’t have experience.
“He travelled every year for retraining. Our training
involves a partnership with the manufacturers of the planes. It is rigorous;
it’s not something taken with levity.”
The NAF spokesperson also dismissed rumours that NAF was
using old aircraft, saying that the Beechcraft that crashed on Friday was among
those that were newly bought in 2015.
“We have four Beechcraft aircraft. The Beechcraft aircraft
which crashed last Friday was among those newly bought in 2015. They are easy
to maintain and they are widely used even in the United States and Britain, ”
he said.
“The one that crashed in January was given to us by the
Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency. So, the accident wasn’t
about the aircraft. Everyone is saying the weather that day was bad. Even in
Abuja, it was bad.”
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com