Missing plane: Locals’ information not enough to determine area of search –Amosu

Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu, has said the fact that an Air Force aircraft went missing with two pilots on board while on a routine operational mission, did not mean the military has lost control of the country’s airspace to the terrorist sect, Boko Haram.Amosu, who had a closed-door meeting with Vice
President Namadi Sambo at the Presidential Villa yesterday, disclosed that some useful information had been received from farmers, but regretted that it was not enough for them to determine the area of search.
The Air Force chief, who reluctantly spoke to State House correspondents on the issue, said the Force had an idea of where the aircraft would be, but the bad weather and the area being an open Sahel had contributed to the difficulty in locating the missing aircraft.
Amosu said: “One of our Alpha jets went on routine operation in the North-East and lost contact with the control towers and that made us to immediately initiate a search. The weather has not been helpful as we have deployed all our surveillance capability, the citizens have been very, very helpful and we have gotten good information from them. In the aviation sector, we have some specific information that we ought to have to make the search easy.
“The information we are getting from the citizens are good but not enough for us to define the area of search. But we have an idea of where the aircraft could be. Do not forget that it is the open Sahel. Some people may think it is easy but in the open Sahel, sometimes, it is even very challenging.
“Human beings standing may look like trees and again, the area we are talking about, we have operations going on there and we have limitations as to how to conduct the search. I am hopeful that before the end of the day or week, we should be able to provide credible information as to the location of the aircraft and then the pilots.
“But one thing is clear, whatever problem they had, an ejection was contemplated. It is, therefore, my hope that the pilots are still alive.”
On the possibility of sabotage, he said: “Sabotage? No. Because it is a distance of just from Maiduguri to Yola. We are in full control of the air space. But don’t forget that when you lose radio signal, it becomes very challenging. There are so many possibilities and we are working on them.”