US plane flying from Nigeria to Gabon disappears

 

ADVERTISEMENT

CONFUSION reigned across the country’s aviation sector, on Monday, following reports that a United States (US) jet that departed Kano airport, Nigeria, on its way to Gabon, got missing after leaving Nigeria’s airspace.

The US registered aircraft, with registration number N9784L, has been declared missing by the Nigerian and Cameroonian authorities.

The plane, owned by the United States company, Global Aviation, but based in Douala, Cameroon, was said to have taken off from Kano at 1800 hours (6.00 p.m) local time on Monday, en route Libreville in Gabon, where it was scheduled to arrive at 2300 hours (11.00 p.m) after a stopover in Douala, Cameroon.

The Cameroonian aviation authorities said the plane, which had an American pilot on board, did not make it to Douala.

The authorities said the last contact the plane had with the control tower took place in Mongo, two hours’ flight from Douala, the Cameroonian economic capital.

It was gathered that the plane must have been carrying out aerial mapping of the Cameroonian airspace, which the company that owns the jet is known for before the incident.

When contacted, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Mr Ibrahim Abdulsalam, said the plane had already been officially handed over to the Cameroonian authorities by the Air Traffic Controllers in Kano airport, adding that the incident did not occur in the country’s airspace.

Abdulsalam said NAMA could not partake in the search for the missing plane, because it did not get missing within Nigerian airspace.

“It did not occur within the Nigerian airspace. So, there is nothing we can do about it. We handed over the aircraft to the Cameroonian airspace,” he said.