By Linus Aleke

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF), has carpeted critics of the service over the perennial crashes of its fighter and training platforms, saying that only 0.87 aircraft in the inventory of the service crashed in the past seven years.

The Service, argued that there is high possibility of air mishaps, when an Air Force is active and amongst the best in the globe.

The Director of Public Relations and Information, Nigerian Air Force, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, who said this while appearing in a programme, aired by African Independent Television (AIT), said that Nigerian Air Force is not only one of the best in the continent of Africa, but also, in the world.

He noted that the neighboring West African States, do not witness air crashes because they have fewer platforms in their armory.

Though, Air Commodore Gabkwet, listed US, South Africa, and Egyptian Air Force as those that rank shoulder to shoulder with Nigeria but failed to give the statistics of the crashes in those countries, after putting the incessant crashes in Nigeria to 0.87 percent in seven years.

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Critics had described crashes of NAF aircraft as ripped fruit falling freely from sky, an embarrassing circumstances the Spokesperson had defended with energy and vitality.

Recall that the Nigerian Air Force FT-7NI trainer aircraft, on 14tt July 2023 at about 4.15pm in Makurdi, Benue State, crashed while, on a routine training exercise.

On the 19th April 2022, another NAF trainer aircraft on routine training session at the 401 Flying Training School at the Nigerian Air Force Base in Kaduna, also crashed.

The NAF Spokesperson who announced the ugly episode, in a statement, also, said, the two pilots on board survived the crash after successfully ejecting from the aircraft.

“Both pilots are currently under observation at NAF Base Hospital, Makurdi,” he said.

Several other platforms had also crashed within the period under review, including the one that killed Chief of Army Staff (COAS), late Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, and other top military Generals.

The NAF Spokesperson said: “Honestly, I don’t think that we have had too many plane crashes. If we look at the statistics of air mishaps in the last seven years, averagely, it is 0.87 aircraft. Look, let us be honest with ourselves, once we have an Air Force that is active like the Nigerian Air Force, the US Air Force, the South African Air Force, and Egyptian Air Force, the likelihood of an accident are always going to be there. It could be human error, the weather, one of my senior colleagues said that it could even be the act of God, it could be mechanical even, so, this things happen.

“The reason why you don’t hear some of these air mishaps around our neighbors is simple. How many aircraft do these countries have? Perhaps that is why people just really get agitated when they hear about these crashes. It is not as if we are happy when it happens, but it is difficult sometimes to avoid accident, so long as we are active Air Force, as long as we are one of the best Air Forces in the world, that is the truth”.

On survival of some of the pilot of the ill fated platforms, Air Commodore Gabkwet explained, “In the last incident, the two pilots came out alive. This means that the training that they have been receiving is actually taken effect on them. Unfortunately, some others never had that opportunity. We just want Nigerians to really be patient with us. I have also observed that the moment people found out that the pilots survived the crash, the focus on the crash quickly die down, which is good.

“It means we are concerned about human lives, but when we have accidents, we should understand that sometimes this will happen, it is a tough job. We must respect these young men that are doing some of these things. It is a job that we hardly have times for our families, selves and friends. We fly day and night while, others are asleep, so citizens must show appreciation to the members of the Armed Forces”.

He concluded that the troops are laying down their lives for the future of our country.