RAF spy plane breaks down on way to find Nigerian schoolgirls
An RAF spy plane sent to join the international hunt for schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram militants has broken down on the way. The Sentinel R1 was forced to divert to Senegal with a “technical issue” and will be grounded until repairs have been completed.
The unexpected delay is a repeat of last year’s embarrassment for the Ministry of Defence when a C-17 transporter sent to help French troops in Mali was also temporarily grounded by technical trouble.
David Cameron offered the Sentinel to the Nigerian government to use its advanced ground scanning radar to hunt for more than 200 school girls abducted from a school hostel last month.
The modified executive business jet, left RAF Waddington on Sunday bound for its new base in Accra in Ghana, where it will be stationed while flying across northern Nigeria. However the crew reported technical problems midway through the flight. An RAF source said: “We had a choice of turning around and coming home, or landing en route.”
It was last night unclear when the jet would be able to resume its flight and travel the remaining 1,300 miles to Accra...............