Beechcraft King Air 350 is the world’s most popular turboprop airplane.
It is a high calibre performance aircraft with more payload capacity and short range runway usage.
The aircraft entered service in 2012 with configuration for two crew members – a pilot and a first a first officer.
It has capacity for maximum of eight passengers .
It has two turbine engines manufactured by Pratt and Whitney, with maximum take off weight of 6,800 kilograms.
It can operate a minimum runway length of 1,000 metres.
With a crushing speed of 300 nautical miles / 555 kilometres per hour , the aircraft has airconditioned , pressurized stand up cabin enclosed vanity room with satellitephone and CD player.
Its maximum cruising ceiling /altitude is 41,000 above sea level or 12,500 metres.
The crashed Nigerian Air Force plane, was among the three Beechcraft KingAir BB350i, inducted in August 2014 and deployed for crew training flights.
It was operated by the NAF’s 209 Executive Airlift Group (EAG), based at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
The plane is a civil utility aircraft.
Before the crash, the aircraft was deployed on Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) duty in the Northwest.
Information released by the NAF, shortly after the crash, indicted that the accident was caused by engine failure.
According to Service statistics, the aircraft serviceability rate of the Nigerian Air Force, rose from 35 per cent in July 2015 to 82 percent as at February 2020.
