Large sections of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) aircraft that crashed in Ondo State are being recovered from the riverine and swampy area where it went down.
Teams comprising Navy divers, Air Force personnel and emergency responders have been deployed to the site with specialised equipment, including swamp buggies and side-scan sonar, to locate and recover the wreckage and remains.
A video from the recovery operation showed large portions of the aircraft brought ashore, with military personnel, officials and local residents gathered around the recovered debris.
The aircraft, a Nigerian Air Force ATR-42 with tail number NAF 931/NGR 931, crashed on October 5, 2026, in a swampy, riverine area near the Naval Base in Igbokoda, Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State.
The aircraft was on a routine flight from Benin City, Edo State, to Lagos when air traffic controllers lost contact with it at about 9:13 a.m.
It subsequently crashed in difficult mangrove and swamp terrain opposite the naval base.
All 25 people on board, comprising five crew members and 20 passengers, mostly military personnel, were killed in the crash.
