The Osun state governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke has narrated his experience after escaping from plane crash at Murtala Muhammed International Airport.
It was learnt that Adeleke and some of his aides boarded a private jet owned by his elder brother at the domestic wing of Lagos airport going to Abuja on September 5, when the aircraft lost its two engines by catching fire on the runway about to take off.
It was speculated that birds had built their nest in one of the engines which resulted to Foreign Object Damage (FOD) that made the aircraft experience high temperature, which resulted in the explosion.
However, Adeleke on Sunday, September 17, berated the claim that the incident was caused by bird nests, stating that the bird nests are made with straws not bidding wires.
The Osun governor through its spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, said “there are strong indications that the two aircraft engines were tampered before boarding. The highly technically equipped aircraft was well maintained with the best technical crew and was never an unused platform where birds could build nests.
He noted that “Contrary to the claim by the hanger owner that birds’ nests caused the incident, birds’ nests are made with straws not bidding wires as in this case.
“The near fatal incident was averted shortly after boarding and less than two minutes after commencement of taxing on the tarmac. An early warning noise from the engines immediately prompted the pilots to direct evacuation of the passengers.
“Everything happened within five minutes. Early reports from internal investigation indicated sabotage. But the authorities, locally and internationally, are still investigating the incident.”
He added that there was no injury or any outward explosion on the plane.
