The
Nigeria navy executive Agusta 109E helicopter, which crashed yesterday
killing Kaduna State Governor Patrick Yakowa, former NSA Andrew Owoye
Azazi and four others, had engine failure, naval sources have said.
SaharaReporters
learned that the pilot of the helicopter communicated with the control
tower in Port Harcourt to report the problem before it crashed to the
ground and caught fire. The chopper belonged to the Nigeria navy, but it
had been placed at the exclusive service of the president in the Niger
Delta region.
The
navy has had three Agusta 109E helicopters. In 2007, one of them
crashed due to bad weather as it approached the Owerri airport in the
night, accompanying INEC election materials. Four persons died in the
crash.
The other two, NN07 and NN08, which actively worked the Bayelsa airspace yesterday, were commissioned in 2009.
Sources
told SaharaReporters that the choppers had been placed almost
exclusively at the service of President Goodluck Jonathan and his
cronies, which is the reason why they were deployed to carry VIPs to and
from the Port Harcourt International Airport for a private burial event
of presidential aide Oronto Douglas that had no official value.
Prior
to yesterday's deadly flight, the naval choppers also carried VIPs to
the funeral of President Jonathan's brother, Meni, less than two weeks
ago.
At
the time of the crash, the helicopter had reportedly done 10 shuttle
trips between Port Harcourt and the burial place of Mr. Douglas's father
in Okoroba. Landing and taking off from the soccer field of a decrepit
local school in the town.
The flight was reportedly the last one, but the engine failed some ten minutes after takeoff, leading to the fatal crash.
President
Jonathan, who had earlier attended an overnight “Holy Ghost Congress”
at the Redeemed Church of God on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway then issued
a terse statement which revealed the names of crash victims and the
usual promise that a probe of the crash will be conducted.
Meanwhile,
Mr. Jonathan has ordered two new luxury helicopters from the same
manufacturer, AgustaWestland, the Anglo-Italian helicopter company based
in Italy. The two AW 101 VIP helicopters will cost Nigeria $40
million. In 2010, Mr. Jonathan ordered three presidential jets as soon
as he took office.
Sahara Reporters
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