The authorities of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) yesterday said its team had sighted the remains of two of the victims from the wreckage of the ill-fated Wings Aviation aircraft whose crash site was spotted with the aid of local hunters last Saturday in Cross River State.
NEMA said as soon as it concludes its preliminary search for the bodies of the victims and their personal belongings, it would give way to the Accident Investigations Bureau (AIB) to carry out further investigations on the incident.
The twin turbo prop 19-seater Aircraft with registration number 5N JAH disappeared on March 15, 2008, with a three-member crew on a flight from Lagos to Bebi Airstrip, near the Obudu Ranch Resort in Obanliku Local Government Area of Cross River State.
The crew members were the pilot, Captain Augustine Egbedi; the co-pilot, First Officer Mohammed and a marketing executive, Ms Fubarata Jack.
The Public Relations Officer of NEMA, Mr. Mohammed Nakorji, who spoke to THISDAY, said the rescue crew despatched to the scene of the crash was able to reach the site yesterday morning and immediately swung into action, combing the surroundings of the aircraft wreckage.
He said as at noon yesterday, the team reported the sighting of two decomposed dead bodies from an aerial picture.
According to Nakorji, the Director-General of NEMA, AVM Mohammed Audu-Bida (rtd), yesterday flew to the crash site in company with other officials of the agency to carry out further assessment of the situation.
He said the agency at the conclusion of its rescue operations would hand over the site to the AIB to immediately commence investigations into the cause of the plane crash and to deploy forensic experts to help identify the victims of the crash.
The ill-fated Beechcraft 1900D had for months defied all efforts to track its crash site, but suddenly gave itself up on Saturday to the most unlikely search party, the village hunters, who spotted the plane at a remote village in Obanliku Local Government Area of Cross River State.
But efforts by Cross River State government officials and journalists to gain access to Busi are being hampered by bad roads and tough terrain.
The aircraft is said to have been burnt and scattered over a large area and only aerial pictures were taken.
A top official of the state government said the distance of Obanliku from Calabar which is about eight hours by road and the poor state of the roads to the area hampered the movement of the officials.
He said when the officials got to Sankwala, headquarters of Obanliku en route Busi, on Tuesday, it was very late and the road to Busi, which is a further one and a half hours drive, was in a very bad shape as a result of the rainy season.
He said it would have been suicidal for the team to continue because of the mountainous terrain adding that they had no option than to go back to Obudu where there was accommodation for the team.
He also said the team had to continue the journey yesterday morning. But as at 7.30pm yesterday, there was no word from the team as the area is not covered by telephone network.
As at press time, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Patrick Ugbe, told THISDAY that none of the officials had returned to Calabar.
He attributed the delay to the distance, the poor state of the roads and the tough mountainous terrain of the area. He however said despite the difficulty, the state government was poised to get to the site.
Meanwhile, officials at the Ministry of Transport appeared to have maintained sealed lips over the reported discovery of the missing crashed aircraft, apparently to make sure that the find was not another fluke as was the case with the false claim it made on the sighting of the plane after the incident in March.
Sources at the Office of the Minister of State for Air Transport told THISDAY that the Minister was waiting to be properly briefed on developments by the agencies involved in the search operations and might possibly visit the crash site to see things for himself before making any public comment on the matter.
The Cross River State government had, on Tuesday, confirmed the discovery of the crash site in a press release dated September 2, 2008 and signed by Ugbe.
Sep42008