*Five crew members survive crash
Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja
The Nigerian Air Force Headquarters has announced the crash of a (NAF) MI-35P helicopter in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State.
A statement issued in Abuja by the Spokesman of the the Nigerian Air Force, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, said the incident occurred at about 7.45am on Friday shortly after the aircraft took off for an operation against economic saboteurs in Rivers State.
“Fortunately, the entire crew of five survived the crash with very minor injuries and are currently being attended to at NAF Medical Centre Port Harcourt”, it said.
It said “the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, is currently enroute Port Harcourt to access the situation for himself and see to the wellbeing of the crew and give further directives”.
The statement further noted that “incident of this nature is yet again a grim reminder of the dangers associated with military flying and the risks NAF pilots and technicians experience in their onerous tasks of defending our nation and deterring criminal elements from their nefarious activities”.
