Search and Rescue Underway as Nigerian Air Force ATR-42 Aircraft Crashes in Ondo State with 32 On Board

Tragedy struck on Monday, October 5, 2026, when a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) ATR-42 fixed-wing transport aircraft—bearing tail number NGR 931—was involved in a devastating crash in the riverine community of Igbokoda, located within the Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State.  

​According to official statements released by the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development alongside the Nigerian Air Force, the aircraft was on a routine administrative and logistics flight from Benin City, Edo State, en route to Lagos. Air traffic controllers confirmed that the flight lost all radio contact at approximately 09:13 local time, after which repeated attempts to re-establish communication failed. Subsequent tracking data and emergency alerts indicated that the aircraft had gone down under severe weather conditions as heavy rains intensified across the southern corridor.  

​The flight manifest recovered by authorities revealed that there were a total of 32 occupants on board, comprising 25 passengers and 7 crew members. Because the aircraft plunged directly into a difficult, waterlogged swampy terrain near a local naval military base, initial rescue access was severely hampered. Local rescue volunteers and eyewitnesses at the scene reported hearing a heavy impact resembling an explosion, noting that parts of the aircraft's wreckage appeared heavily damaged and partially submerged in the swamp.  

​In response to the incident, the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, confirmed that he had held direct consultations with the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke, assuring full institutional cooperation and the deployment of specialized tactical response units to assist the military. Similarly, the NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame, formally confirmed the accident, stating that a multi-agency search-and-rescue framework has been fully mobilized.  

​While viral social media posts and early unverified reports have circulated claims regarding immediate fatalities and the discovery of body parts around the site, federal authorities and military spokespersons have urged calm and restraint, emphasizing that an official, comprehensive casualty report cannot be finalized until rescue divers and engineering teams fully secure the submerged wreckage and complete the recovery operations.