Nigerian jet crash kills at least 103 (AP) Updated: 2005-12-11 08:37
Adurogboye said there was stormy weather around the airport at the time of
the 2:08 p.m. crash and witnesses reported seeing lightning flashes as the plane
approached the runway in this southern port city.
Nigerian-owned Sosoliso Airlines was established in 1994. It began scheduled
flights as a domestic airline in July 2000 and now flies to six Nigerian cities,
according to its Web site.
Information Minister Frank Nweke said Sosoliso had a reputation for being
efficient and reliable.
"To my knowledge they haven't had any incidents since they started their
operation," Nweke said. "So this has come as a surprise, a very big surprise."
He added: "It's a very terrible situation and very sad." Obasanjo was
"devastated," he said.
Nigerian airports 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 also briefly suspended flights at Lagos' international
airport because of holes in the runway.
In October, an Abuja-bound Boeing 737-200 crashed after taking off from the
airport at Lagos, Nigeria's biggest city, killing 117 people on board the
Bellview Airlines flight.
The cause of that crash is unknown, but U.S. investigators sent to help with
the investigation ruled out terrorism, an official at Nigeria's Aviation
Ministry said last month.
After the October crash, Obasanjo ordered stricter safety and maintenance
procedures for all Nigerian aircraft, directing the aviation ministry to "plug
loopholes" to ensure passenger safety.
In May 2002, a domestic EAS Airlines jet plowed into a heavily populated
neighborhood after takeoff at the airport outside the northern city of Kano,
killing 154 people in the plane and on the ground.
Asked whether this latest crash raised serious questions about air safety in
Nigeria, Fani-Kayode said: "Of course, people would be concerned, in view of the
circumstances."
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