The First Lady, Patience Goodluck Jonathan has denied the rumour going round that her presence at the airport was what led to the crash of the Dana Air plane on Sunday.
The Federal Ministry of Aviation in a statement said the allegations were farther from the truth.
Special Assistant to the Minister of Aviation, Joel Obi, said: “There is a widely circulating rumour that the airspace was closed to facilitate the first lady’s movement and that it was partly responsible for the Dana Plane crash of Sunday, June 3, 2012.
“For the records, we wish to state that the First Lady arrived in Lagos at about 4.45pm on Saturday, June 2, 2012 and only departed for Abuja on Monday, June 4, 2012 at 1.30 pm., whereas the ill fated Dana flight 0992 departed Abuja on Sunday, June 3, 2012 at 3.54 pm and its last contact with the Lagos control tower was at 4.42pm as has already been announced.
We wish to stress that the First Lady did not fly on Sunday, the June 3, 2012, as widely being speculated.
This clarification became necessary in view of widely circulated rumour alleging that the Dana plane was distressed for a while but could not make an emergency landing because the airspace was closed for 2 hours for – the Presidential Jet carrying Dame Patience Good luck Jonathan.
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