Found an interesting article. I've copied only parts of it but you can read the full gist at http://saharareporters.com/article/flight-9j-992-did-dana-air-purchase-aircraft-pre-existing-safety-problem?nocache=1#comment-438210

If you need further proof and have the access, watch the investigation on youtube. I hope the nigerian goverment does a very thorough job with this crash investigation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82MXcZKDiOU&feature=fvwrel


By Fidel Agbobu

A preliminary independent inquiry into the Dana Air crash of Sunday June 3, 2012 reveals that Dana Air might have purchased an aircraft with a pre-existing safety issue and a troubling past safety record. The question therefore is whether the necessary due diligence was carried out on the aircraft in question prior to purchase and operation in Nigeria. Or whether the Nigerian aviation authorities were aware of this fact before allowing the said aircraft into service locally. Dana Air’s McDonnell Douglas - MD-83 - jet is part of a fleet that was sold off by Alaskan Airlines in 2008 as the company upgraded its existing fleet to include more fuel-efficient aircrafts.

However, prior to this deal Alaskan Airlines has had several incidents with some of its MD-83 aircrafts, at least one of such incidents resulted in a fatal air crash. The air crash occurred on January 31st 2000, when Alaskan Airlines 261, crashed into the Pacific Ocean killing two pilots, three cabin crewmembers, and 83 passengers... With regards to the specific Dana aircraft in question, which flew within the Nigerian airspace under registration number 5N-RAM, it was discovered that this aircraft was previously registered to Alaskan Airlines with FAA N-number N944AS. The Construction Number (CN) of the plane was 53019/1783.

Checks with the United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) revealed that the ill-fated aircraft, which first flew in 1990, had a previous aircraft incident within US airspace. The incident occurred on the August 20th 2006 and is listed in NTSB records as incident LAX06IA301. On that day, the plane landed without incident, but while taxiing to parking, the cabin crew intimated their colleagues on the flight crew about an smelly smoke from an electrical spark , which had permeated the cabin area... Although the actual cause of Sunday’s air crash is yet to be determined, the question remains as to whether the problems of this aircraft were resolved satisfactorily and whether the eventual buyers of the plane (Dana Air) and the Nigerian Ministry of Aviation were aware of this fact and took necessary measures to ensure that the aircraft was safe enough to operate within Nigeria’s airspace.

While we wait for an official explanation, following the promised"a thorough investigation” from aviation authorities, we will take the necessary steps to conduct a more comprehensive independent investigation in the short-term lest this become another victim of a quickly forgotten tragedy.