From Tracking Pirates To Hunting Boko Haram, The ATR 42 Was No Ordinary Aircraft
The aircraft that crashed in Igbokoda, Ondo State, was not a regular plane. It was one of Nigeria’s most prized spy planes in the sky.
Marked NAF931, the ATR 42-500MP was built to see what others cannot see, far across the Atlantic and deep inside Sambisa forest.
The Making Of A War Machine
Originally a civilian passenger turboprop built by Franco-Italian firm ATR, Nigeria transformed it into a maritime patrol beast.
Acquired through Italy’s Alenia Aeronautica, now Leonardo, the deal was sealed in March 2007 for $73 million including training and logistics. The first, NAF930, arrived in December 2009. The ill-fated NAF931, serial MSN800, followed in 2010.
Its real power lies in its belly and nose.
It carries multi-mode radar, electro-optical turret with colour and monochrome cameras, Automatic Identification System, direction finder, and video recorders. All feed into the deadly Airborne Tactical Observation and Surveillance System, ATOS, operated by two mission specialists on high-resolution displays.
It also has a unique cabin-floor hatch that opens mid-flight to drop supplies or rescue equipment.
With a max take-off weight of 18,600kg, cruise speed of 520km/h, ceiling of 25,000 feet and seven-hour endurance, it can loiter for hours watching a camp, a road, or a vessel.
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From Gulf Of Guinea To Sambisa
Bought to fight oil theft, bunkering, piracy and illegal fishing in the Gulf of Guinea, the ATR 42s were quickly dragged inland for war.
Based with 81 Air Maritime Group in Benin, but routinely deployed with 75 Strike Group in Yola, it became the eye of the counter-insurgency campaign. It reportedly flew surveillance missions during the hunt for the Chibok schoolgirls.
A Fleet Kept Alive With Blood And Sweat
Keeping them flying has been a battle.
NAF930 went to Rheinland Air Service in Germany for major overhaul on September 16, 2019, its first depot maintenance after 10 years. COVID-19 delayed its return.
NAF931 left for Germany in January 2020 and spent almost four years grounded. NAF engineers joined in its reactivation. It only returned to Nigeria in late December 2024 and flew until yesterday’s tragedy.
