December 10 may just be another day for
millions of Nigerian, but for some it
symbolizes sorrow and tears, a day that left
scars.
The reason? On December 10, 2005, a DC-9 plane
operated by Sosoliso Airlines crash-landed in
Port Harcourt resulting in the death of 108 of
the 110 people aboard the plane.
According to reports, many of the victims
survived the crash, but died in the resulting
fire due to poor emergency services at the
airport.
The fact that sixty-one secondary school pupils
from Loyola Jesuit College, Abuja were aboard
the flight made the crash more tragic and left
the nation shell-shocked.
The pastor of Fountain of Life Church and
relationship coach, Bimbo Odukoya, also died in
the crash.
Ten years after, while the nation’s memory of
the tragedy appeared to have been dulled,
relatives and family members of the victims
have come out to remember and honour them.
A former member of the House of
Representatives, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, whose son
was in the school at the time, tweeted, “We
remember all victims of the Sosoliso crash, 10
years ago. Our 60 angels of Loyola Jesuit
College will not die in vain.”
Many other people have also tweeted in honour
of the victims. Some of the tweets, however,
point out that not much has changed since the
crash.
“10 years since Sosoliso. The problem is the
Nigerian State. It is designed to be
dysfunctional,” a user, Onye Nkuzi, tweeted via
the handle @cchukudebelu.
In 2010, during the launch of a book, written
in honour of the pupils lost by LJC, the
Chaplain of the school, Fr. Ubong Attai, was
quoted as saying, “Although things have not
changed much, there was a bold step by the
President then, Olusegun Obasanjo, after the
crash, to sanitise the avaiation sector.”
Earlier this year, five years after Attai’s
comments, the Port Harcourt International
Airport where the crash occurred, was voted the
worst airport in the world by over 26,000
travellers who were surveyed by the Guide to
Sleeping in Airports.
As victims of the Sosoliso crash are
remembered, here are the five worst air
disasters in Nigeria.
5. Bellview Airlines crash – October 22, 2005
A total of 117 people, comprising 111 passengers
and six crew members were killed when a
Boeing 737-200 plane owned by Bellview
Airlines crashed at Lisa, a village in Ogun
State.
The plane, which was heading to Abuja, crashed
shortly after taking off from the Murtala
Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
Although emergency authorities were notified on
October 22 that the airport had lost contact
with the plane, it wasn’t until the next day
that its wreckage was discovered. There were no
survivors.
4. ADC Airlines Flight 86 – November 7, 1996
In November 1996, an Aviation Development
Company aircraft – Flight 86, which was
enroute to Lagos from Port Harcourt, crashed,
killing all 144 passengers and crew members on
board.
The pilot lost control of the plane while trying
to avoid a collision with another aircraft. An
air traffic controller was responsible for the
error that almost resulted in the mid-air
collision.
3. NAF Lockheed crash – September 26, 1992
No fewer than 158 people, mostly military
officers, were killed when a Nigerian Air Force
Lockheed C-130H Hercules crashed in Lagos soon
after take-off.
The aircraft, which was enroute to Kaduna,
crashed into the canal at Ejigbo in Lagos
shortly after taking off from the Murtala
Muhammed International Airport.
The military officers killed in the crash were
on their way to attend a course at the
Nigerian Command and Staff College at Jaji in
Kaduna State.
2. Dana Air Flight 992 – June 3, 2012
In all, 163 people lost their lives in this crash
which occurred on a Sunday afternoon at Iju-
Ishaga, a suburb of Lagos.
The aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas MD-83,
crashed into a building after the crew reported
engine trouble, killing all 147 passengers and
six crew members as well as 10 people on the
ground.
The plane had burst into flames after crashing
into the building, but efforts to put out the
fire was hindered by shortage of water as well
as the huge crowd at the scene.
1. 1973 Kano air disaster
Nigeria’s worst air disaster claimed the lives
176 people, mostly pilgrims. On January 1973, a
chartered Boeing 707 crashed while attempting
to land at the Aminu Kano International
Airport.
The flight, operated by Alia, had been chartered
to fly pilgrims back to Nigeria from Saudi
Arabi. Twenty-six people survived the crash.
The Sosoliso crash was Nigeria’s 6th worst air
disaster in terms of fatalities.
www.punchng.com/sosoliso-flight-1145-and-nigerias-worst-air-disasters/

Cc; lalasticlala

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