Army General Staff Is Nearly Wiped Out

The sad aviation record of Nigeria, where planes go down with alarming frequency, has gotten worse with news that a crash on Sunday has virtually decapitated the Nigerian Army.

Eighteen people were aboard the Nigerian Army Dornier 228, a small German-made twin turboprop, when it went down after departing the capital city of Abuja. It crashed for unknown reasons about 18 miles from the city of Obudu in the Southeast area of Nigeria.

The Army officers were on their way to a high level conference to discuss the challenges facing the country, including the volatile, but oil-rich Niger delta region and the army's role in upcoming elections next year. Eight major generals, two brigadier generals and at least two other officers died in the crash. It is known that at least four others survived.

The BBC reports that President Olusegun Obasanjo called the crash a "monumental tragedy" and is flying home early from the World Bank conference in Singapore. He ordered an immediate investigation and called for three days of national mourning.

Reuters reports Nigeria has had multiple major plane crashes over the decades. In 1993, an army transport plane went down with the loss of 193 young military officers, wiping out a generation of military leadership in Nigeria. Last year, two civilian passenger aircraft crashed within weeks of each other claiming 223 lives.

FMI: http://www.nigerianarmy.net/