Passengers 13 Fatalities 15 Date 3 October 2013 Location Lagos, Nigeria Survivor 5 | Crew 7 Survivors 5 Number of deaths 15 Operator Associated Aviation Destinations Akure Airport, Ondo State | |
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Summary Impacted ground shortly after takeoff (cause unconfirmed) Site Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos, Nigeria Similar 2013 Loreto Helicópte, 2013 Soldotna Rediske, Nepal Airlines Flight 555, 2013 Goma Compagn, 2013 Siberia Polar Airli | ||
Associated Aviation Flight 361 was a domestic charter flight operated on 3 October 2013 by Associated Aviation from Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos, Nigeria to Akure Airport, Ondo State, also in Nigeria. The aircraft operating this flight, an Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia, crashed shortly after takeoff.
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Aircraft
The aircraft used for the flight was an Embraer 120 Brasilia, registered 5N-BJY. It was delivered to Associated Aviation in May 2007.
Accident
The aircraft was conveying the body of former governor of Ondo State Olusegun Agagu from Lagos to Akure for burial. It lifted off from runway 18L of Murtala Mohammed Airport at about 09:32 local time (08:32 UTC). The crew received warnings from the aircraft's aural warning system during the takeoff-roll and also failed to make "V1" and "rotate" calls; the aircraft then struggled to gain altitude immediately after takeoff. Less than a minute after lifting off, the aircraft impacted terrain in a nose-down-and-near-90-degrees-bank attitude.
Reports differ but according to the manifest the flight had 17 passengers and seven crew; four passengers and two crew survived the accident but one of passengers later died in hospital. Fatalities included relatives of Olusegun Agagu; and officials of the Ondo State Government. An elaborate burial ceremony planned for Agagu was postponed as a result of the crash.
Investigation
Nigeria's Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), responsible for investigating air crashes, opened an investigation into the fatal accident. On 11 October 2013, the AIB released a preliminary report suggesting that improperly configured flaps for takeoff might have led to the crash. The report also reveals that the No. 1 engine appeared to be working normally whilst the No. 2 engine produced significantly less thrust.