ABUJA — The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) High Command has formally activated a specialist Board of Inquiry to investigate the root cause of Monday’s fatal ATR-42 aircraft crash in Igbokoda, Ondo State, while the Federal Government announced plans for joint safety and capacity-building reforms across civil and military aviation sectors.
The investigative panel is automatically chaired by the NAF Superintendent of Standards and Evaluation as part of standard military flight safety protocols to examine technical, environmental, and operational factors surrounding the disaster.
Disclosing the development in Abuja on Thursday, October 8, 2026, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development Festus Keyamo and Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar emphasized that both authorities have agreed to collaborate closely on institutional safety upgrades, shared technical capacity, and joint emergency response frameworks.
Keyamo noted that aviation safety transcends administrative boundaries, stressing that joint civil-military cooperation is essential to prevent recurring air disasters and safeguard lives across Nigerian airspace.
At the Igbokoda crash site, heavy recovery operations remain severely impeded by the dense marshland. Specialized amphibious equipment and a floating buggy brought by a local construction firm have been deployed to clear a pathway through the swamp to allow heavy machinery to reach the deeply submerged fuselage.
Military authorities confirmed that while search teams have recovered scattered wreckage debris and body parts across the containment area, lifting the main aircraft body out of the waterlogged terrain will take time as rescue crews work to retrieve the remaining victims.
