Nigeria Airways Flight 825

Nigeria Airways Flight 825

A VC-10 leased to Nigeria airways similar to the accident aircraft
Accident summary
Date 20 November 1969
Summary Probable CFIT due to pilot error
Site 13 km (8.1 mls) N of Lagos/Ikeja International Airport (LOS)
Passengers 76
Crew 11
Fatalities 87
Survivors 0
Aircraft type Vickers VC-10
Operator Nigeria Airways
Registration 5N-ABD
Flight origin London-Heathrow Airport (LHR/EGLL)
Stopover Roma-Ciampino Airport (CIA/LIRA)
1st stopover Kano International Airport (KAN/DNKN), Nigeria
Destination Lagos/Ikeja International Airport (LOS/DNMM)

On 20 November 1969, Nigeria Airways Flight 825,[1] a Vickers VC-10 aircraft, crashed while on approach to Lagos International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria killing all 87 people on board.

Flight

Nigeria Airways Flight 825 was en route from London to Lagos with intermediate stops in Rome and Kano. With its undercarriage down and its flaps partially extended, the VC-10 struck trees 13 kilometres short of runway 19. The aircraft crashed into the ground, an area of teak forest[2] and exploded.

All 76 passengers and 11 crew on board were killed. Flight 825 was the first ever fatal crash involving the Vickers VC-10.[3]

Cause

Immediately after the crash three automatic weapons were found in the wreckage. To counter a rumour that a fight between a prisoner and two guards caused the crash, a ballistics expert was consulted. It was learned none of the weapons had been recently fired.[4]

The cause of the crash could never be determined with certainty, the flight recorder was not working at the time of the crash,[5] but that it was most probably due to the flight crew being unaware of the aircraft's actual altitude during the final approach and allowing the aircraft to come below safe height when not in visual contact with the ground.[6] Fatigue may have also been a contributing factor.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Accident Synopsis". AirDisaster.com. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
  2. ↑ "First VC-10 accident", Flight International: 830, 27 November 1969
  3. ↑ "Nigerian jetliner toll placed at 87", Eugene Register-Guard, p. 1, 20 November 1969
  4. ↑ Nigeria Airways and the VC10, citing pages 88–93 of "Silent Swift Superb: The Story of the Vickers VC10" by Scott Henderson
  5. ↑ "Nigeria Report Soon?", Flight International: 222, 13 August 1970
  6. ↑ Aircraft accident Vickers VC-10-1101 5N-ABD Lagos
  7. ↑ Gero, David (1996). Aviation Disasters Second Edition. Patrick Stephens Limited. p. 91.

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