Eyewitness Account Suggests Pilot Tried to Evade Ground Collision by Landing in Water – Ilodigwe
By Dim Oba, LAGOS – An eyewitness account has raised the possibility that the pilot of the Nigeria Air Force aircraft that crashed in Ondo State may have attempted to avoid a collision with buildings by directing the aircraft towards a swampy area.
According to Thompson Ilodigwe, ARISE News correspondent, residents in the area described the incident as traumatic, saying they saw the aircraft flying at an unusually low altitude, almost hitting the roofs of nearby buildings, before it rapidly headed towards the swamp.
Ilodigwe said residents rushed to the crash site after the aircraft went down in an attempt to rescue possible survivors. However, they reportedly found only personal belongings floating on the surface of the water.
He noted that the presence of a Naval Base close to the crash site had also raised questions about whether the pilot, having possibly detected a problem with the aircraft, may have attempted to reach the facility or use the nearby waterlogged area to minimise casualties on the ground.
The account, however, remains an eyewitness observation and has not established the cause of the crash or confirmed the pilot’s intentions.
Authorities are expected to investigate the circumstances surrounding the crash, including the aircraft’s final flight path, altitude, mechanical condition and the pilot’s actions in the moments before impact.
