Very Sad! Arotile, Nigeria’s First Female Combat Helicopter Pilot, Dies at 23

Flying Officer Tolulope Arotile, the first-ever female combat helicopter pilot in Nigeria, is dead. She was barely 23 years old.

Arotile died from a head injuries sustained from a road traffic accident at Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Base Kaduna.

Her death came barely a year after she was winged as a combat helicopter pilot in the Air Force, following the completion of her course in South Africa.

Confirming the accident, NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, said until her death, ‪Flying Officer Arotile, who was commissioned into the NAF in September 2017 as a member of Nigerian Defence Academy Regular Course 64, was the first ever female combat helicopter pilot in the service.‬

The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, on behalf officers, airmen, airwomen and civilian staff of the NAF, has commiserated with the family of the late young, promising Flying Officer, over this irreparable loss.