Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145
Encyclopedia
Sosoliso Airlines
Flight 1145 was a scheduled flight between the Nigeria
n cities of Abuja
(ABV
) and Port Harcourt (PHC
).
At about 14:08 local time (13:08 UTC) on 10 December 2005, Flight 1145 from Abuja crash-landed on the runway at Port Harcourt International Airport
. The plane, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32
with 110 people on board, burst into flames. Immediately after the crash, seven survivors were recovered and taken to hospitals, but it has since been reported that four of those survivors have died in hospital care, leaving three survivors, two of whom were flown to South Africa
. In the end, two people survived.
students from Port Harcourt travelled between school and their homes via buses using the roads. Rising crime along roads the 1990s made parents believe that road travel was too dangerous. In 2001, when Sosoliso Airlines
began services between Port Harcourt and Abuja parents placed their children on the flights.
According to the airline's website, Sosoliso Airlines operated one MD-81 and three DC-9 airplanes, though it acquired an MD-82 during the last week of November. The crashed DC-9 was acquired from JAT Airways
. This is the first accident for the airline.
Among the passengers were about sixty one secondary school students from a school in the Federal Capital Territory
region of Nigeria called Loyola Jesuit College
.
Many passengers survived the initial impact and died in the resulting fire. Port Harcourt Airport had one fire truck and no ambulances.
Of seven people who survived initially, six died in the following days. On 11 December, four of the people who survived the initial impact and remained alive, including Bimbo Odukoya
, died, leaving three remaining survivors As of 11:35 P.M. EST on 13 December 2005 CNN
incorrectly stated that one survivor remained. As of 29 October 2006, CNN
incorrectly stated that there were 108 passengers and that all of them died. On the same day the Associated Press
stated that 107 passengers were killed. One survivor, Kechi Okwuchi, was treated in Milpark Hospital at Johannesburg
, South Africa
as of 14 December 2005 and at Shriners Hospitals for Children
in Galveston, Texas
, United States
as of 6 September 2007.
s and AIDS
victims.
Loyola Jesuit dedicated a Memorial Hall to the dead students.
The International Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO) mandates that each family of an air crash victim is entitled to $100,000 United States dollar
s from the airline. In January 2009 Dr. Harold Demuren
, the director general of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority
(NCAA), said that the families of the air crash victims would be compensated and that Sosoliso had already paid 2.3 million U.S. dollars into an escrow account to compensate the families.
Sosoliso Airlines
Sosoliso Airlines was a scheduled, domestic, passenger airline. For much of its existence it had its head office in Ikeja, Lagos State. Originally its head office was on the grounds of Enugu Airport in Enugu.-History:...
Flight 1145 was a scheduled flight between the Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
n cities of Abuja
Abuja
Abuja is the capital city of Nigeria. It is located in the centre of Nigeria, within the Federal Capital Territory . Abuja is a planned city, and was built mainly in the 1980s. It officially became Nigeria's capital on 12 December 1991, replacing Lagos...
(ABV
Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport
Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport is an international airport located in Abuja, FCT, Nigeria, and is the main airport serving the Nigerian capital city. It was named after Nigeria's first President, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe. It consists of an international and a domestic terminal. Both terminals...
) and Port Harcourt (PHC
Port Harcourt International Airport
Port Harcourt International Airport is an international airport located in Omagwa, a suburb of Port Harcourt city in Rivers State, Nigeria. The airport consists of a single terminal with separate facilities for international and domestic flights...
).
At about 14:08 local time (13:08 UTC) on 10 December 2005, Flight 1145 from Abuja crash-landed on the runway at Port Harcourt International Airport
Port Harcourt International Airport
Port Harcourt International Airport is an international airport located in Omagwa, a suburb of Port Harcourt city in Rivers State, Nigeria. The airport consists of a single terminal with separate facilities for international and domestic flights...
. The plane, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32
McDonnell Douglas DC-9
The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is a twin-engine, single-aisle jet airliner. It was first manufactured in 1965 with its maiden flight later that year. The DC-9 was designed for frequent, short flights. The final DC-9 was delivered in October 1982.The DC-9 was followed in subsequent modified forms by...
with 110 people on board, burst into flames. Immediately after the crash, seven survivors were recovered and taken to hospitals, but it has since been reported that four of those survivors have died in hospital care, leaving three survivors, two of whom were flown to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. In the end, two people survived.
Loyola Jesuit College and Flight 1145
At first Loyola Jesuit CollegeLoyola Jesuit College
Loyola Jesuit College is a private Roman Catholic secondary school in Nigeria operated by the Society of Jesus religious order. The school was opened on October 2, 1996 and is named after the Society's founder, St. Ignatius of Loyola. Loyola Jesuit College is a co-educational, boarding institution...
students from Port Harcourt travelled between school and their homes via buses using the roads. Rising crime along roads the 1990s made parents believe that road travel was too dangerous. In 2001, when Sosoliso Airlines
Sosoliso Airlines
Sosoliso Airlines was a scheduled, domestic, passenger airline. For much of its existence it had its head office in Ikeja, Lagos State. Originally its head office was on the grounds of Enugu Airport in Enugu.-History:...
began services between Port Harcourt and Abuja parents placed their children on the flights.
The flight
The captain was Benjamin Adekunle Adebayo, a Nigerian. The first officer was Gerad Yakubu Andan, a Ghananian.According to the airline's website, Sosoliso Airlines operated one MD-81 and three DC-9 airplanes, though it acquired an MD-82 during the last week of November. The crashed DC-9 was acquired from JAT Airways
Jat Airways
Jat Airways is the national airline of Serbia and the former national airline of Yugoslavia, and has its head office in the Jat Airways Business Center in Belgrade. It was established in 1927 as Aeroput, making it currently one of the world's oldest airlines still in operation...
. This is the first accident for the airline.
Passengers and crew
2 passengers survived with serious injuries. 7 crew members and 101 passengers ultimately died. No people received minor or no injuries.Among the passengers were about sixty one secondary school students from a school in the Federal Capital Territory
FCT
-Politics:*2001 Sino-Russian Treaty of Friendship*Federal Capital Territory, an early name for the Australian Capital Territory*Federal Capital Territory, the region where the National Government of Nigeria is based.-Education:...
region of Nigeria called Loyola Jesuit College
Loyola Jesuit College
Loyola Jesuit College is a private Roman Catholic secondary school in Nigeria operated by the Society of Jesus religious order. The school was opened on October 2, 1996 and is named after the Society's founder, St. Ignatius of Loyola. Loyola Jesuit College is a co-educational, boarding institution...
.
Many passengers survived the initial impact and died in the resulting fire. Port Harcourt Airport had one fire truck and no ambulances.
Of seven people who survived initially, six died in the following days. On 11 December, four of the people who survived the initial impact and remained alive, including Bimbo Odukoya
Bimbo Odukoya
Abimbola Rosemary "Bimbo" Odukoya was a Nigerian pastor and televangelist who was married to the founder of the Fountain of Life Church, Taiwo Odukoya....
, died, leaving three remaining survivors As of 11:35 P.M. EST on 13 December 2005 CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
incorrectly stated that one survivor remained. As of 29 October 2006, CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
incorrectly stated that there were 108 passengers and that all of them died. On the same day the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
stated that 107 passengers were killed. One survivor, Kechi Okwuchi, was treated in Milpark Hospital at Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
as of 14 December 2005 and at Shriners Hospitals for Children
Shriners Hospitals for Children
Shriners Hospitals for Children is a network of 22 non-profit hospitals across North America. Children with orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate are eligible for care and receive all services in a family-centered environment, regardless of the patients’...
in Galveston, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
as of 6 September 2007.
Legacy
Andy and Ify Ilabor, the parents of crash victims Chuka, Nkem, and Busonma "Buso" Ilabor, started a foundation called the Ilabor Angels to assist orphanOrphan
An orphan is a child permanently bereaved of or abandoned by his or her parents. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents is called an orphan...
s and AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
victims.
Loyola Jesuit dedicated a Memorial Hall to the dead students.
The International Civil Aviation Organization
International Civil Aviation Organization
The International Civil Aviation Organization , pronounced , , is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It codifies the principles and techniques of international air navigation and fosters the planning and development of international air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth...
(ICAO) mandates that each family of an air crash victim is entitled to $100,000 United States dollar
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
s from the airline. In January 2009 Dr. Harold Demuren
Harold Demuren
Dr. Harold Olusegun Demuren is an Aeronautical Engineer. He was appointed Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority in December 2005.-Education:...
, the director general of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority
Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority is the civil aviation authority of Nigeria. It has its head office on the grounds of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, and its Lagos office is in Aviation House on the grounds of Murtala Muhammed Airport in Ikeja, Lagos State.The current Director...
(NCAA), said that the families of the air crash victims would be compensated and that Sosoliso had already paid 2.3 million U.S. dollars into an escrow account to compensate the families.
External links
- Investigation Report FMA AIPB 424: DC93 LOC Port Harcourt 2005 - Nigerian Federal Ministry of AviationNigerian Federal Ministry of AviationThe Nigerian Federal Ministry of Aviation is a ministry of the Nigerian government that regulates air travel and aviation services in Nigeria.The ministry is responsible for formulation and management of the government's aviation policies in Nigeria....
(Archive) - Passenger manifest
- "NATURAL DISASTER CAUSE OF SOSOLISO CRASH." Sosoliso AirlinesSosoliso AirlinesSosoliso Airlines was a scheduled, domestic, passenger airline. For much of its existence it had its head office in Ikeja, Lagos State. Originally its head office was on the grounds of Enugu Airport in Enugu.-History:...
. 21 April 2006. - Statement on Sosoliso Airlines Crash. BoeingBoeingThe Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
(Archive)