Passengers 193 Injuries (non-fatal) 26 Date 22 January 1973 Survivor 26 Crew count 9 | Fatalities 176 Survivors 26 Number of deaths 176 Passenger count 193 | |
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Summary Landing gear collapse, bad weather Destination Murtala Muhammed International Airport (now Murtala Muhammad Int'l Airport) Similar Aeroflot Flight 3932, Pan Am Flight 816, Aeroflot Flight 141, Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Fl, Invicta International Airlines Fl | ||
The Kano air disaster was a chartered Boeing 707 passenger flight on 22 January 1973 which crashed while attempting to land at Kano International Airport. It is the worst aviation disaster ever to take place in Nigeria, as 176 passengers and crew perished in the crash. There were 26 survivors.
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Aircraft
The aircraft involved in the accident was a 2 year old Boeing 707-3D3C, JY-ADO, owned by Alia Royal Jordanian Airlines, operating on behalf of Nigeria Airways. It first flew in 1971 and was powered by 4 Pratt and Whitney JT3D engines. It had a manufacturer serial number (MSN) of 850.
Flight
The Boeing 707, operated by Alia, had been chartered by Nigeria Airways to fly pilgrims back from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Lagos, Nigeria. Bad weather at Lagos caused the crew to divert to Kano. Kano International Airport was experiencing high winds at the time. The aircraft landed nose wheel first, and the nose wheel collapsed after hitting a depression in the runway. The right main landing gear leg subsequently collapsed. The 707 turned 180 degrees, excursed from the runway and caught fire.
Of the 202 passengers and crew on board, 176 died and only 26 survived. At the time it occurred, the Kano air disaster was the deadliest-ever aviation accident, a dubious distinction it only held for about 14 months when Turkish Airlines Flight 981 crashed in France killing 346 people.