TheCable

Vivian Ude, a resident of Basa village near the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, has narrated how the Nigerian air force aircraft hovered around their community before it crashed.

The Beechcraft KingAir B350i crashed on Sunday killing all seven personnel on board.

Ude told TheCable that she was gripped by fear thinking the plane would land in her compound.

“I am not myself because of what I experienced today,” she said.

“When I came back from church, I went out to buy something only for me to come outside and I saw the plane coming close as if it wanted to land in our compound.

“The pilot was struggling with the plane as though he wanted to land but the plane would go up again. The plane did not get to the place where they always land before touching the ground.

“I saw the plane going down but at a point, I could not see it again and the next thing I heard was a loud sound with fire and smoke.

“I was so traumatized because I saw humans burning. I could not eat my lunch because of fear.”

Joseph ThankGod, a 13-year-old resident of the village who was among the first responders, told journalists that he thought the plane was performing aerial display which is normally carried out by the Nigerian airforce.

He said the fire service could not locate the road leading to the crash scene on time.

“We thought they are doing their usual aerial display with the plane but the plane fell down,” he said.

“I went to meet my friends where they were molding blocks and we tried to use water to quench the fire but the plane exploded and we had to move back. This was when we realised that it would be difficult to quench the fire.

“The fire service couldn’t locate the road to get to the scene of the crash and when they arrived they finally put out the fire and the officers chased us away and seized the mobile phones of those filming.”

Several social media users have commended the deceased pilot for steering the aircraft away from the village.