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Lagos plane crash: Nigeria suspends Dana Air licence | Lagos plane crash: Nigeria suspends Dana Air licence |
(40 minutes later) | |
Nigeria's civil aviation authority has grounded all Dana Air's aeroplanes after one of its aircraft crashed on Sunday in a busy Lagos suburb. | Nigeria's civil aviation authority has grounded all Dana Air's aeroplanes after one of its aircraft crashed on Sunday in a busy Lagos suburb. |
The commercial aircraft was flying from the Nigerian capital, Abuja, to Lagos when it crashed and burst into flames. | The commercial aircraft was flying from the Nigerian capital, Abuja, to Lagos when it crashed and burst into flames. |
All 153 people on board, and an unknown number on the ground, were killed. | All 153 people on board, and an unknown number on the ground, were killed. |
Meanwhile, the country's lawmakers have called for the head of the civil aviation authority to step aside while they carry out an investigation. | |
Dozens of families have been trying to identify the bodies of the dead, which are being kept in a morgue in a Lagos hospital. | |
It had been feared that dozens of people on the ground were also killed when the McDonnell Douglas MD-83 crashed into a printing works and residential buildings in Iju, a busy suburb north of the airport. | |
The BBC's Will Ross in Lagos says although some could still be buried under the rubble, so far the emergency teams have found six additional bodies - a remarkably low number given that it is a densely populated city. | |
'Total system check' | |
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) says it will carry out a total system check of the Indian-owned Dana Air - including the company's planes, maintenance procedures, personnel and books. | |
"Their operational licence has been suspended until we carry out their recertification," spokesman Sam Adurogboye told the BBC. | |
This is standard practice after such an event, Mr Adurogboye says. | |
The suspension will be lifted if all is found to be in order and the rest of the company's fleet found to be airworthy. | |
An NCAA investigation into the cause of the crash is under way, and both the flight data and the voice recorder have been recovered. | |
Aviation Minister Stella Oduah said that the pilot contacted the Lagos control tower just before crashing to say the plane was experiencing trouble. | |
Our correspondent says there have been reports that the pilot had reported in that mayday call that there were problems with both engines. | |
On Monday, President Goodluck Jonathan declared three days of national mourning and promised improvements to air safety after he visited the plane crash. | |
He was there with members of Nigeria's national assembly, who have been meeting on Tuesday in an emergency session to discuss the plane crash. | |
Lawmakers are to carry out their own separate investigation in the Dana Air crash - and want the director general of Nigeria's independent civil aviation authority, Harold Demuren, to be suspended until they conclude the probe. | |
Although Nigeria's air safety record has improved in recent years, the country has a history of major passenger plane crashes - this is the fourth crash in the last decade in which more than 100 people were killed. | |
Lagos airport is a major hub for West Africa and saw 2.3 million passengers pass through it in 2009, according to the most recent statistics provided by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria. |