Investigators Look for the Cause of Nigerian Plane Crash
AP
Khaleej Times Online, UAE
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Port Harcourt (Nigeria):
Air accident investigators on Sunday were trying to establish what caused a Nigerian plane to crash, killing at least 103 people including dozens of schoolchildren.
It was Nigeria’s second major airplane accident in seven weeks, raising questions about air safety in Africa’s most populous nation.“The only information we have now is that the weather was inclement.
The government will want to allow the experts to look into the crash and come up with the cause,” said Information Minister Frank Nweke on state-owned Radio Nigeria.The Sosoliso Airlines’ McDonnell Douglas DC-9 crashed around midday Saturday as it approached the oil center of Port Harcourt from the Nigerian capital, Abuja.
Frantic family members who gathered at the airport said the plane had been carrying 75 school children, aged between 12 and 16, home for the Christmas holidays. They were pupils at the Loyola Jesuit school in Abuja.Witnesses said they saw lightning flashes as the plane approached the runway.
There had been seven crewmembers on board, Adurogboye said.Sosoliso spokesman Simbo Olorufemi in Lagos would not comment on details of the crash beyond confirming it had occurred, and saying “most of the passengers might have lost their lives.”Nigerian airports also have come under criticism in recent months, following a string of near-misses and an incident in which an Air France passenger jet crashed into a herd of cows on the runway at Port Harcourt.
International airlines briefly suspended flights at Lagos’ international airport because of holes in the runway.
Dec 11, 2005
AP
Khaleej Times Online, UAE
____________________
Port Harcourt (Nigeria):
Air accident investigators on Sunday were trying to establish what caused a Nigerian plane to crash, killing at least 103 people including dozens of schoolchildren.
It was Nigeria’s second major airplane accident in seven weeks, raising questions about air safety in Africa’s most populous nation.“The only information we have now is that the weather was inclement.
The government will want to allow the experts to look into the crash and come up with the cause,” said Information Minister Frank Nweke on state-owned Radio Nigeria.The Sosoliso Airlines’ McDonnell Douglas DC-9 crashed around midday Saturday as it approached the oil center of Port Harcourt from the Nigerian capital, Abuja.
Frantic family members who gathered at the airport said the plane had been carrying 75 school children, aged between 12 and 16, home for the Christmas holidays. They were pupils at the Loyola Jesuit school in Abuja.Witnesses said they saw lightning flashes as the plane approached the runway.
There had been seven crewmembers on board, Adurogboye said.Sosoliso spokesman Simbo Olorufemi in Lagos would not comment on details of the crash beyond confirming it had occurred, and saying “most of the passengers might have lost their lives.”Nigerian airports also have come under criticism in recent months, following a string of near-misses and an incident in which an Air France passenger jet crashed into a herd of cows on the runway at Port Harcourt.
International airlines briefly suspended flights at Lagos’ international airport because of holes in the runway.
Dec 11, 2005
