Nigerian Air Force ATR‑42 crashes in Ondo, 25 killed and rescue effort hampered by swamp

An ATR‑42 operated by the Nigerian Air Force crashed on 5 October 2026 while on a routine flight from Benin to Lagos, killing 25 people – five crew members and 20 passengers – near Igbokoda in Ondo State.

The aircraft fell into a swamp about 200 metres from a local community and the main wreckage has not been recovered, with divers and rescue teams unable to locate the fuselage after 72 hours; heavy‑duty amphibious excavators, called swamp buggies, have been deployed to widen waterway access, and the black box remains missing. President Bola Tinubu declared three days of national mourning and the federal government ordered additional resources for the recovery operation.

Recovery work continues as authorities search for the submerged airframe and the flight data recorder, while jet fuel leakage from the crash site is reported to be polluting the surrounding water.