ABUJA (Reuters) – A small passenger plane belonging to the Nigerian military has crashed while approaching the Abuja airport runway due to engine failure on Sunday, Nigeria’s aviation minister Hadi Sirika has said.
Sirika, said on his Twitter account that “a military aircraft King Air 350 has just crashed short of our Abuja runway after reporting engine failure en route Minna,” a city about 110 kilometres (68 miles) northwest of Abuja.
He gave no details on casualties but wrote: “It appears to be fatal.”
The twin propeller engine King Air 350i, a variant of the model, takes up to eight passengers, according to the plane manufacturer’s website.
In scrubland just outside the airport perimeter, dozens of military and airport officials picked through scattered debris while the smell of burning chemicals lingered in the air, a Reuters witness said.Sourc: Reuters.
The Reporters, however, gathered that all the seven persons on board of as aircraft, comprising two crew members and four passengers, lost their lives in the plane crash the authorities of the Nigerian Airforce have confirmed the accident.
Sources said that the aircraft, a NAF201 B350, was said to on its way to Minna, Niger State when it developed engine problem around 10:39a.m.
