‘Helicopter Crash’: Police Oppose AIB, Claim Aircraft ‘Safe-Landed…No Injury Whatsoever’

The Nigeria Police Force has denied that its Bell 429 helicopter which departed Abuja for Bauchi on Wednesday crashed at the Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa International Airport, Bauchi State.

The police also contradicted the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) on its claim that some police officers aboard the aircraft sustained injuries.

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The AIB had earlier stated that it was investigating “an accident” involving the helicopter with registration number 5N-MDA owned and operated by the police. It said the accident occurred on January 26 at about 7:30pm.

But reacting hours after the AIB’s statement, the police said the aircraft was flown by one of its “best pilots” and was “Not crashed as reported,” adding that “none of the occupants sustained any injury whatsoever”.

A statement issued by the police spokesperson, Frank Mba, said: “The aircraft, which was flown by one of the best Police Pilots, was professionally safe-landed with minor damage on the rear rotor as a result of obstacle at the landing spot. The incident occurred around 7:30PM (local time).”

Meanwhile, Mba had told The Nations that while the aircraft was landing on Wednesday, “Incidentally the runway lights were off. So, visibility was an issue. They hovered around the airport hoping that somebody would turn-on the light.

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“They tried to reach them on the communication set, nobody was on the control towel and at the end of the day they had no choice but to do a control landing. And they landed safely.

“The only thing that happened is that very close to where they landed the tail rotor hit a branch of a tree. So, the only damage they had was to the tail rotor”.

The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, had commended the Police Air-Wing for their professionalism in “safe-landing the aircraft” and averting any serious air-mishap.

He further noted that the Nigeria Police Air-wing – with a fleet of one fixed-wing aircraft, a citation jet and 13 helicopters have got a strong history of air safety since its establishment in the year 1972.

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