Crash of a Boeing 747-258C in Lagos

Date & Time: Nov 29, 2003 at 0235 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
ZS-OOS
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Brussels – Lagos – Johannesburg
MSN:
21190
YOM:
1975
Flight number:
HYC501
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
9
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The crew departed Brussels on a cargo flight to Johannesburg with an intermediate stop in Lagos. On approach by night, the crew was cleared to land on runway 19R that was closed to traffic due to resurfacing process. After touchdown, the aircraft collided with several equipments then veered off runway to the left and came to rest. All nine occupants escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair. ATC cleared the crew to land on runway 19R while the runway 19L was the one in service at the time of the accident.
Probable cause:
The AIPB reported that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority did not know of the closure of the runway, nor that it was aware of the NOTAM until the accident occurred. Runway 19R was not properly closed in accordance with standard practice, as the runway lights were all switched on indicating runway serviceability.

Crash of a BAc 111-525FT in Kano: 149 killed

Date & Time: May 4, 2002 at 1335 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
5N-ESF
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Schedule:
Jos - Kano - Lagos
MSN:
266
YOM:
1980
Flight number:
EXW4226
Location:
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
8
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
71
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
85
Circumstances:
The aircraft was completing a regular schedule flight from Jos to Lagos with an intermediate stop in Kano. Weather conditions were good but the OAT at the time of the accident was +42° C. Due to construction works (retreatment of the asphalt surface), the longest runway 24/06 was closed to traffic so the crew was departing from runway 23 at Kano-Mallam Aminu Kano Airport which is 2,600 metres long. Due to high temperature and reduced performances, the aircraft used the entire runway length, overran and rolled on a grassy area for few dozen metres before lifting off. During initial climb, the aircraft encountered difficulties to gain sufficient height and to follow a positive rate of climb when it collided with obstacles and crashed in the district of Gwammaja located about 2 km past the end of runway 23. The aircraft was totally destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire as well a several buildings, among them a school and a mosque. Among the 77 people on board the aircraft, six survived (five passengers and one stewardess). All 71 other occupants were killed as well as 78 people on the ground. More than 70 other people on the ground were injured, some seriously. It was later reported that the aircraft was out of service for 52 days due to engine problems. Nevertheless, both engines were changed few days prior to the accident and accumulated 10 hours of flight since.

Crash of a Partenavia P.68C Victor in Ikorodu: 2 killed

Date & Time: Jun 16, 2001
Type of aircraft:
Registration:
5N-ATE
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Lagos – Calabar
MSN:
244
YOM:
1981
Location:
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
2
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
2
Circumstances:
Few minutes after takeoff from Lagos-Murtala Muhammed Airport, en route to Calabar, the pilot informed ATC about engine problems and was cleared to return. He apparently attempted an emergency landing when the aircraft struck a tree and crashed in Igbogbo, in the southern suburb of Ikorodu, about 25 km east of Lagos Airport. A passenger was seriously injured while the pilot and the second passenger were killed.

Crash of a BAe 125-600B in Lagos

Date & Time: May 15, 2001
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
5N-RNO
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Yola – Lagos
MSN:
256054
YOM:
1975
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
2
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
On final approach to Lagos-Murtala Muhammed Airport, both engines failed simultaneously due to fuel exhaustion. The aircraft lost height, collided with approach lights and crashed short of runway threshold. All four occupants escaped with minor injuries while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair. The exact date of the mishap remains unknown, somewhere in May 2001.
Probable cause:
Double engine failure on final approach due to fuel exhaustion. Poor flight preparation.

Crash of an Airbus A310-304 off Abidjan: 169 killed

Date & Time: Jan 30, 2000 at 2109 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
5Y-BEN
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Abidjan - Lagos - Nairobi
MSN:
426
YOM:
1986
Flight number:
KQ431
Location:
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
10
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
169
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
169
Captain / Total flying hours:
8663
Captain / Total hours on type:
1664.00
Copilot / Total flying hours:
7295
Copilot / Total hours on type:
5768
Aircraft flight hours:
58115
Aircraft flight cycles:
15026
Circumstances:
On Sunday 30 January 2000, the Kenya Airways Airbus 310-304, registered 5Y−BEN, was undertaking the scheduled international flight KQ 431 transporting passengers from Abidjan to Nairobi, via Lagos. On board there were 10 crewmembers and 169 passengers. On the same day, in the afternoon, 5Y-BEN had flown in from Nairobi and landed at Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport in Abidjan at 15 h 15. The unfavorable meteorological at Lagos had obliged the pilot, after a thirty minutes hold at Lagos, to divert to Abidjan. The relief crew, which had arrived two days previously on flight KQ 430 on Friday 28 January 2000, at 15 h 44, took over on board 5Y-BEN, to undertake flight KQ 431 from Abidjan to Nairobi, via Lagos. Departure was scheduled for 21 h 00, in accordance with the initial program. The copilot was pilot flying, the Captain was pilot not flying. At 20 h 55 min 22 s, the crew established contact with Abidjan Airport control tower and asked for start-up clearance. This was granted. At 20 h 56 min 09 s, the Captain ordered the checklist to be performed and announced the type of take-off by saying "Flex sixty" at 20 h 56 min 19 s. At 21 h 00 min 18 s, three minutes and nineteen seconds after the start-up of the first engine (engine n° 2), the Captain announced over the interphone that linked him with the ground mechanic “we have two normal start-ups”. At 21 h 01 min 07 s, the crew of 5Y-BEN asked for clearance to taxi. The tower controller put them on standby. A few seconds later, he cleared them to taxi. At 21 h 02 min 33 s, the Captain ordered the Copilot to set the flaps at 15°. Later, at 21 h 04 min 50 s , the copilot announced "trim: 0.9 nose up, Slats/flaps 15/15". The airplane began to taxi at 21 h 07 min 35 s, the tower controller informed the crew of the latest wind, cleared them to take off and asked the crew the call back when they reached flight level 40. At 21 h 07 min 45 s, the copilot read back the clearance. This was the last communication between the crew and the control tower. At 21 h 08 min 08 s, the copilot announced "Take-off checklist completed … cleared for take-off". At 21 h 08 min 18 s, the Captain applied take-off power and announced "thrust, SRS, and runway" then, nine seconds later “100 knots”. At 21 h 08 min 50 s, the Captain announced "V1 and Rotate(4)", then two seconds later "Positive". The airplane took off. At 21 h 08 min 57 s, the copilot announced "Positive rate of climb, gear up". Less than two seconds later the stall warning sounded. At 21 h 09 min 07 s, the automatic call out (AC) announced 300 feet. At 21 h 09 min 14 s, the copilot asked "what’s the problem?". From 21 h 09 min 16 s, the AC announced successively 200, 100, 50, 30, 20 and 10 feet. Meanwhile, at 21 h 09 min 18 s, the copilot ordered the aural warning to be cut. Two seconds later, the GPWS sounded the “Whoop...” alarm followed, a half a second later, by the AC announcement of 50 feet. At 21 h 09 min 22 s, an aural master warning started, immediately followed by an order from the Captain to climb: "Go up!", though this was preceded six tenths of a second by the AC announcement of 10 feet. At 21 h 09 min 23.9 s, end of the master warning, followed immediately within a tenth of a second by the noise of the impact. The time of the accident is presumed to be 21 h 09 min 24 s.
Probable cause:
The Commission of Inquiry concluded that the cause of the accident to flight KQ 431 on 30 January 2000 was a collision with the sea that resulted from the pilot flying applying one part of the procedure, by pushing forward on the control column to stop the stick shaker, following the initiation of a stall warning on rotation, while the airplane was not in a true stall situation. In fact, the FCOM used by the airline states that whenever a stall warning is encountered at low altitude (stick shaker activation), it should be considered as an immediate threat to the maintenance of a safe flight path. It specifies that at the first sign of an imminent stall or at the time of a stick shaker activation, the following actions must be undertaken simultaneously: thrust levers ion TOGA position, reduction of pitch attitude, wings level, check that speed brakes are retracted. The investigation showed that the pilot flying reduced the pitch attitude but did not apply TOGA thrust on the engines. The investigation was unable to determine if the crew performed the other two actions: leveling the wings and checking that the speed brakes were retracted.
The following elements contributed to the accident:
• the pilot flying’s action on the control column put the airplane into a descent without the crew realizing it, despite the radio altimeter callouts;
• the GPWS warnings that could have alerted the crew to an imminent contact with the sea were masked by the priority stall and overspeed warnings, in accordance
with the rules on the prioritization of warnings;
• the conditions for a takeoff performed towards the sea and at night provided no external visual references that would have allowed the crew to be aware of the
direct proximity of the sea.
Final Report:

Crash of an Embraer EMB-110P1A Bandeirante in Abuja: 2 killed

Date & Time: Jan 5, 2000 at 1325 LT
Operator:
Registration:
5N-AXL
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Lagos - Abuja - Ilorin
MSN:
110-455
YOM:
1984
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
11
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
2
Circumstances:
On final approach to Abuja-Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport runway 22, the crew declared an emergency and reported smoke in the cockpit and cabin. Shortly later, the aircraft stalled and crashed 120 metres short of runway. A passenger and one people on the ground were killed while 12 other occupants were injured.

Crash of a Boeing 707-355C in Ostend

Date & Time: Nov 14, 1998 at 0544 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
5N-VRG
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Ostend - Lagos
MSN:
19664
YOM:
1968
Flight number:
VGO302
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Aircraft flight hours:
67790
Aircraft flight cycles:
15984
Circumstances:
The aircraft departed Ostend Airport at 0328LT on a cargo flight to Lagos, carrying five crew members and a load of 35 tons of electronics. About 20 minutes into the flight, while cruising at an altitude of 24,000 feet over the border between Brussels and Paris ARTCC, the crew informed ATC about severe turbulences. Few seconds later, he reported the loss of the engine n°3 that separated and elected to return to Ostend. After being cleared, the crew started a circuit and while descending to Ostend Airport, the hydraulic systems failed. The crew completed a holding pattern to burn fuel and was later cleared to land on runway 26. After touchdown, the aircraft was unable to stop within the remaining distance, overran, lost its undercarriage, slid for few dozen metres and eventually came to rest near the localizer antenna. All five crew members escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.
Probable cause:
Laboratory analyses revealed the presence of a fatigue crack on the inner mid spar fitting of the engine n°3. The crack has been present for a reasonable time. The Airworthiness Directive 93-11-02 asks the replacement of the fittings by improved model at least for July 97. The fittings of engine n°3 were from the old design. Due to the non application of AD 93-11-02, the aircraft was in a non-airworthy condition.

Crash of a BAc 111-203AE in Calabar: 1 killed

Date & Time: Jul 29, 1997
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
5N-BAA
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Lagos - Calabar
MSN:
041
YOM:
1965
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
49
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
1
Circumstances:
The approach to Calabar Airport runway 03 was completed in poor weather conditions with heavy rain falls, turbulences, clouds down to 240 metres and a visibility limited to 2,800 metres. On final, the aircraft was unstable and not properly aligned with the runway centerline. Upon touchdown, the left main gear landed on the grassy area to the left of the runway. The captain attempted to correct when the aircraft veered to the right back onto the runway and overran. It struck a ditch and came to rest 1,500 metres further, bursting into flames. A crew member was killed and 10 other occupants were injured.
Probable cause:
The following findings were reported:
- Poor weather conditions,
- Limited visibility and low ceiling,
- The aircraft was unstable on final approach and misaligned on runway 03,
- The aircraft landed at an excessive speed,
- The crew failed to initiate a go-around procedure,
- Poor planned approach.

Crash of a Boeing 727-231 off Ejirin: 144 killed

Date & Time: Nov 7, 1996 at 1703 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
5N-BBG
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Port Harcourt - Lagos
MSN:
20054
YOM:
1969
Flight number:
ADK086
Location:
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
10
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
134
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
144
Aircraft flight hours:
64956
Aircraft flight cycles:
44613
Circumstances:
After takeoff from Port Harcourt Airport, the crew was cleared to climb to FL240. At 15:47 the flight established initial contact with Lagos Approach Control, and was assigned a transponder code. At 15:54 the flight reported crossing SEPER point. After this position report, the flight appeared not to be maintaining a listening watch, as it gave no reply to two consecutive calls from Approach Control, and then after some time replied to a transmission not meant for it. At the same time a Triax Airlines Boeing 727 (Flight TIX185) had departed Lagos and was flying at FL160 towards Enugu. The Lagos controller had terminated contact with the Triax aircraft when the ADC crew requested to descend. The permission to descend was delayed to allow a corporate jet (5N-APN) to pass beneath the 727 at FL210. At 15:59 Lagos Approach Control then cleared the flight to FL160 and subsequently requested the flight to contact Lagos Radar. The flight was identified by Lagos Radar 41 miles south-east of the airport, and instructed it to fly the heading of 320° to avoid Triax flight 185, and to descend to FL50. At 16:02.50 Lagos Radar instructed the aircraft two times in succession to maintain heading 300. The captain then took over control from the copilot by stating: "I have it." At 16:03.08 the flight reported: "I have the traffic... and I continue my heading to 330 to avoid him". This was the last transmission. The records of the FDR show that flight 086 was maintaining a steady coordinated turn towards heading 330 for the first 10 seconds of the last 50 seconds of the flight. After 15 seconds, the airplane was put in bank angle of 43.2°. It maintained this configuration for 10 seconds before the bank angle increased to 68.8 degrees. This attitude was observed for 5.5 seconds before it was further increased to 83 degrees. The airplane must have suffered from high speed stall and gone into a roll with a nose down attitude. The aircraft appeared to be recovering just before it impacted the lagoon water because it succeeded in reducing the vertical acceleration from 8.44 to 2.1 G and the bank angle to 61.6°. But it did not have sufficient height to make a full recovery and crashed in the lagoon about 7,5 km west of Ejirin. The wreckage was found in the afternoon of the following day. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all 144 occupants were killed.
Probable cause:
It was determined that the accident was the consequence of the untidy traffic separation by the radar controller which resulted from the vectoring of ADK086 towards the track of the opposite traffic TIX185. The error of judgement by the pilot of ADK086 to continue his turn to heading 330 to avoid TIX185 and his subsequent collision avoidance manoeuvre constituted the remote causes of this accident.

Crash of a BAe 125-700B in Kano: 14 killed

Date & Time: Jan 18, 1996 at 2020 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
5N-AXO
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Lagos - Kano
MSN:
257196
YOM:
1983
Location:
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
4
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
10
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
14
Circumstances:
The approach to Kano-Mallam Aminu Kano Airport was completed by night but in good weather conditions. On final, the aircraft struck the ground and crashed in a field located 7,2 km short of runway threshold. The aircraft was destroyed and all 14 occupants were killed, among them Ibrahim Abacha aged 28, son of General Sani Abacha, President of the Republic of Nigeria. It is unclear if the accident was the result of a controlled flight into terrain or if the aircraft suffered an engine problems or if it was shot down.