Nov 5 (Reuters) – Nigeria’s airline industry is in dire
financial straits, putting its already poor safety record at
risk of further deterioration. . Here is a list
of major air disasters to hit Africa’s most populous nation in
the last 11 years:
July 11, 1991 – A Nigerian Airways DC 8 carrying 242
pilgrims crashed in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. All 261 people on
board were killed.
Sept. 26, 1992 – A Nigerian Air Force C-130 crashed minutes
after taking off from Lagos airport. Around 200 people died.
June 24, 1995 – A Harka Airlines Soviet-era Tupolev Tu-134
crashed at Lagos airport, killing 16 people.
Nov. 13, 1995 – A Nigeria Airways Boeing 737 crashed on
landing in Kaduna, killing nine people.
Nov. 7, 1996 – A Boeing 727 operated by Nigeria’s ADC
crashed on its way from Port Harcourt to Lagos. All 142
passengers and nine crew died.
May 4, 2002 – A Nigerian EAS Airlines BAC 1-11 crashed in
Kano. At least 148 people were killed, 75 on the plane and at
least 73 on the ground.
Oct. 22, 2005 – A Nigerian Bellview Airlines Boeing 737
airliner crashed shortly after take-off from Lagos. All 111
passengers and six crew were killed.
Dec. 10, 2005 – A Nigerian Sosoliso Airlines DC9 from Abuja
crashed on landing in Port Harcourt, killing 106 people, half of
them schoolchildren on their way home for Christmas.
Sept. 17, 2006 – Twelve Nigerian military personnel, mostly
high-ranking officers, were killed in a plane crash in Benue
state. Six survived.
Oct. 29, 2006 – An ADC airliner with 114 passengers on board
crashed and burned after take-off from Abuja, killing 96 people.
June 3, 2012 – A McDonnell Douglas MD-83, operated by
privately owned domestic carrier Dana Air, carrying 147
passengers and six crew, crashed in the Agege suburb of Lagos,
killing all on board and 10 on the ground.
(Reporting By Pascal Fletcher; Additional writing by David
Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit; Editing by Will
Waterman)
