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Co-pilot mourned American pilot, Boseman, in December
Our Reporters
Friends and relatives of seven Air Force officers, who died in a plane crash on Sunday, paid glowing tributes to them.
The Nigeria Air Force personnel were on their way from Abuja to Minna, Niger State to rescue abducted students and workers of Government Science College, Kagara when their plane crashed shortly after takeoff from the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport.
According to NAF, the personnel were Flight Lieutenant Haruna Gadzama (Captain); Flight Lieutenant Henry Piyo (Co-Pilot); Flying Officer Michael Okpara (Airborne Tactical ObservationSystem (ATOS) Specialist); Warrant Officer Bassey Etim (ATOS Specialist); Flight Sergeant Olasunkanmi Olawunmi (ATOS Specialist); Sergeant UgochukwuOluka (ATOS Specialist) and Aircraftman Adewale Johnson (Onboard Technician).
Abuja plane crash: Residents recount near-death experience
Our Reporters
The tranquility that characterises Nassau Village in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, was on Sunday disturbed when a jet belonging to the Nigerian Air Force crash landed in the area.
Noise from aircraft is not strange to residents of the village, being one of the settlements that bordered the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport.
But the Sunday experience was not only strange, it was a near-death experience for them.
It started with a loud and unusual noise from the ill-fated aircraft, followed by a loud explosion and then billows of thick smoke and fire.
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Published 22 February 2021
Residents of the Nassau Village in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, said they thought a bomb blast had occurred when they heard a deafening sound on Sunday morning.
On rushing to the site, they discovered that a jet belonging to the Nigerian Air Force crash landed in the area.
The jet en route Minna in Niger State crashed close to the runway of the Abuja airport after reporting engine failure.
One of the residents, who witnessed the accident, Ebube Onyedi, told our correspondents that they initially took the loud sound that characterised the crash for a bomb blast.