The Nigeria Police Force on Thursday says its helicopter did not crash in Bauchi as widely reported.
The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) Wednesday said it reported the crash of a helicopter belonging to the Nigeria Police, injuring six persons, adding that it was even investigating the crash.
But the force spokesperson, CP Frank Mba, told journalists on Thursday in Abuja that the helicopter did not crash, adding that the pilot only had a controlled landing.
Mba said the helicopter took off from Abuja, got to Bauchi around 7am but the pilot discovered that there was no light on the runway.
He said only the tail rotor of the helicopter was damaged.
“And incidentally the runway lights were off. So visibility was an issue. They hovered around the airport hoping that somebody would turn-on the light.
“They tried to reach them on the communication set, nobody was on the control tower and at the end of the day they had no choice but to do a control landing. And they landed safely.
“The only thing that happened is that very close to where they landed the tail rotor hit a branch of a tree. So the only damage they had was to the tail rotor.
“And there were six persons onboard and nobody was injured. And there was no major damage to the plane.”
