Abubakar stated this when he received Chief of Staff to the President, Malam Abba Kyari, who visited Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) Clinic, Abuja, to console the victims of the air mishap.
The Air Force boss said the crash of the Air force jets which happened during rehearsals for the 58th Independence Day Celebrations in Abuja had claimed the life of one of the pilots.
“Well, I think that is the tragic nature of our job. As combat pilot sometimes things terrible happen and this is one of those days.
“These officers have been rehearsing for the 58th anniversary of their country.
“Everybody was full of enthusiasm, excited to be part of the celebration, unfortunately we had this incident this afternoon.
“We have set up a board of enquiry to clearly understand what really happened. This was supposed to be the last rehearsal before the actual flying on the 1st of October.
“It is very unfortunate that we lost one of them, but we are also consoled by the fact that we have two of the pilots here who are in stable condition, they have been visited by the Chief of Staff and I have also visited them. 9
“Like I said this is something that has to do with the profession of flying combat aircraft and sometimes you can’t avoid these things from happening,’’ he said.
Responding, the Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, said President Buhari had expressed his grief over the sad incident and had directed him to come and visit the affected officers.
“The President said we should come and see you and wish you well, he is fully aware, he has been informed on what happened.
“We are proud of your service to your country,’’ he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Abba Kyari was accompanied on the visit by Malam Garba Shehu, the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity.(NAN)
