Once again, the nation woke to the grim news of another plane crash which claimed the life of the army chief, his aides among others, eleven souls in all.
The nation is mourning, and flags are flying at half-mast at the barracks and military formations nationwide as we mourn the horrible demise of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen Ibrahim Attahiru.
The list of the dead also includes Brig.-Gen. M. Abdulkadir (the Chief of Staff to the COAS); Brig.-Gen. Olayinka (acting Provost Marshall of the Army); Brig.-Gen Kuliya (acting Chief of Military Intelligence); Major L.A. Hayat (the Aide-de-Camp to the COAS) and Major Hamza (the Chief Security Officer to the COAS) and five non-commissioned officers.
This, indeed, is one crash too many.
It would seem that we are at the mercy of death these days, with three military air crashes claiming 20 souls in just three months.
Recall that the spate of bad luck lurking in our skies in recent times started on February 21, 2021; seven persons were confirmed dead when military aircraft, NAF201, crashed on approach at Abuja airport after an ‘engine failure’. We are yet to get a report on that incident.
In the North-East, hotbed of insurgency, another jet in pursuit of terrorists disappeared from the radar at about 5.08 p.m. on 31st March, 2021 and up till date, it has not been found. The two pilots have also not been accounted for.
The latest calamity to befall the nation happened on Friday, May 21, 2021 when eleven military personnel, including the nation’s army chief and ten others perished at the Kaduna airport.
The incident has been attributed to ‘bad weather’ by the Defence Headquarters. As usual, the authorities say investigations are ongoing.
It would seem there will always be rationalisation or reason(s) for any accident, but rampant air crashes have really become worrisome, especially for military jets that are supposed to be objects of precision.
According to aviation experts, generally, there is not a single cause for an accident, but a combination of several factors.
Apart from losses during military actions or wars, accidents and incidents involving military aircraft could be due to mechanical failures or weather and pilot error. Others are chronological lists, lists by conflict and lists by aircraft model.
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Of the causes of plane crashes and how to prevent them, experts list human error as by far the most common cause of air crashes, This is said to account for about 50 per cent of accidents.
Next is mechanical failure or defect. Modern planes are adjudged far safer than aircraft used in the past, and are becoming more safe with time.
We also have weather problems. But modern planes are generally rated as being able to fly in almost any weather.
It therefore means that to prevent air crashes, we have to critically look at these issues.
Beyond the official explanations we are given about frequent jet crashes in Nigeria, it simply means that something is drastically wrong: Navigational issues, poor pilot training, dilapidated or unserviceable aircraft, or even sabotage by military or extraneous actions or all of the above are possibilities.
We at ThisNigeria strongly believe that the time is ripe to tell ourselves some basic truths. Nigerians are tired of official explanations rooted in the “immediate cause of the crash is still being ascertained’’.
History have shown that such reports are never made public, and the game of Russian roulette usually continues until another ‘bird’ falls from the sky.
It is high time we took a pragmatic look at the state of our military hardware, personnel and equipment to check our poor military aviation history, especially in recent times.
Are our pilots exposed to the right training and welfare? Are we buying the right planes and equipment? What about the prospect of military action and sabotage?
There is need for a proper and thorough investigation into incidents such as this. Plane crashes are not something to gloss over. Perhaps the authorities take delight in classifying these type of accidents as a ‘military affair’. It should not be any longer.
The authorities can take a cue from a Civil Society Organisation (CSO), Concerned Nigerians, which has called for the employment of independent air accident experts to unravel the cause of the crash.
We have lost far too many human and material resources to air crashes of all types.
We cannot afford to lose more.
