Intelligence report gathered by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) indicates that the Alpha Jet aircraft (NAF475) that went off the radar with 2 crew members on board on 31 March 2021 might have crashed.
The Director of Public Relations and Information, NAF Air Commodore EDWARD GABKWET disclosed this to newsmen in a press statement in Abuja on Friday.
He said the cause of the crash as well as the whereabouts of the 2 pilots remain unknown.
According to him, the pilots are Flight Lieutenant John Abolarinwa and Flight Lieutenant Ebiakpo Chapele.
The statement said extensive search and rescue efforts are still ongoing by NAF surveillance aircraft as well as NAF Special Forces and Nigerian Army troops on ground.
It noted that, at this point, the NAF is not ruling out anything regarding the incident but remain hopeful that the crew would soon be found and rescued.
It can be recalled that, On the 31 March,2021, The Nigeria Air Force has declared one of its Alpha jet aircraft (NAF475) missed due to loss of radar cantact at about 5:08pm (1608GMT) while on surveillance and supporting the ground troops fighting Boko-Haram terrorists in Northeast Borno state.