13 Killed as Plane Bearing Agagu’s Remains Crashes

Associated Airlines Plane crash

 

•Son, six others survive 

•Jonathan mourns victims, orders investigation 

•Oduah promises thorough probe

Thirteen persons were confirmed dead Thursday when an Associated Airlines plane bearing the remains of a former Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Agagu, to Akure for funeral rites, crashed within the vicinity of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, shortly after take-off.

Seven other passengers on board the plane that burst into flames after crashing, including Agagu’s only son, Feyi, were rescued and taken to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, Federal Medical Centre, Ebute Metta, and the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) 445 Medical Reference Hospital, Lagos, for treatment.

The casket, in which Agagu’s remains were encased, was also recovered and later taken away in a NAF ambulance with registration number AF054E1 to the office of the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB).

The plane had on board 13 passengers, who were part of the funeral party for Agagu, a former Minister of Aviation during the first term of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999, and seven flight crew.

According to the manifest, passengers on the ill-fated plane were Feyi Agagu; state Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Mr. Deji Falae, who is the son of former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and presidential candidate in the 1999 general election, Olu Falae; Femi Akinsanya; Akintunde Joseph; Akeem Akintunde; Tunji Okusanya Snr. of MIC Caskets, the funeral undertakers based in Lagos, Chijioke Duru; Kingsley Amaechi, Deji Afolabi, Mrs. A.O. Alabi, Daji Bernard; a protocol officer in the Ondo Government House;  Samson Hassan; and Olatunji Okusanya Jr. of MIC Caskets.

The seven flight crew were Captain Yakubu, Flight Officer Oyinlola, Soroh Ebiya, a flight dispatcher identified as Ibrahim, Mr. Felix Latoya, and cabin attendants, Owolabi and Samson.
Although the manifest has not been faulted by concerned authorities, THSDAY gathered that after the pilot of the flight had filed the manifest, which contained 13 passengers and seven crew to the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), about seven other passengers boarded the 30-seater aircraft.

NCAA was therefore in a dilemma to declare the names that were not on the manifest, even as it knew that the number of the passengers were more than 20 as declared.

Among the undeclared passengers were prominent personalities who might be declared wanted over time, except the regulatory body and their relatives agree to make their names public.
The accident, which came barely 16 months after a Dana Air Flight J9 092 crashed at the Iju/Ishaga area of the state, killing 153 passengers, created chaos at the airport and a terrible traffic snarl that stretched to several kilometres.

THISDAY gathered that barely a minute after the pilot took off, the aircraft could not gain altitude and as it banked to gain its bearing, it nosedived to the ground without warning.

A source alleged that the aircraft, an Embraer turboprop series, had not gone for maintenance checks for a long time until Tuesday when it was prepared for the doomed flight.

The airline’s management said in a statement that it was currently cooperating fully with the aviation regulatory authorities with a view to establishing the remote and other causes of the accident.

“Our prayers go out to the affected families of the departed. We pray for their souls to rest in perfect peace while we continue to wish and pray for the speedy and full recovery of the survivors of this grave and sad accident.

“We shall continue to provide information on this accident firstly to the affected families out of respect to them as we receive it. The aircraft was chartered for flight to Akure,” it said.
The presidency yesterday summoned the Minister of Aviation, Ms. Stella Oduah, a few minutes before she was about to address the media on the plane crash.

But shortly after her departure to heed the summons, her media aide, Mr. Joe Obi, issued a statement, which the minister was billed to read.

Oduah, in the statement, said: “This morning (yesterday) at 0932 hours, local time, an Embraer 120 aircraft, with registration number 5N-BIT operated by Associated Airlines on a private charter flight from Lagos to Akure, crashed shortly after take-off from the domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammad International Airport.

“At departure, the crew of the chartered operation reported 20 persons on board, including crew.
“We can confirm that there were six (later updated to eight by the ministry) survivors on the aircraft and four are in stable condition while two are critical but they are all receiving attention in the hospitals.

“The authorities are contacting families of the victims of this unfortunate incident, and upon completion, will make information about the identities of the victims public.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with them at this difficult time.”

The black box, according to her, had been located and was in the custody of the Accident Investigation and Prevention Bureau (AIPB), which with the cooperation of NCAA, and other relevant agencies commenced full investigation into the cause of the accident.

“While it is too early to determine the cause of the accident, we urge the public to be patient while the investigation progresses. I assure the public that the investigation will be thorough and that our airspace remains safe and secure,” she added.

Also speaking on the casualties, the General Manager, Federal Airports Authorities of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr. Yakubu Dati, said 14 persons had been confirmed dead while five who were severely injured were rushed to the hospital.

AIB Commissioner, Usman Muktar, told reporters that the flight data recorder (black box) had been recovered, adding that it was too early to speculate on the cause of the crash.
Another senior AIB official, Emmanuel Diala, said details of what caused the crash would only be determined after the analysis of the data box.

National Emergency Agency (NEMA), South-west Zone spokesman, Mr. Ibrahim Farinloye, told THISDAY shortly after the rescue operation was underway that the agency and the state fire service rushed to the scene of the incident immediately the news of the crash broke.

He said: “We got to the scene and combined efforts to put out the fire before other emergency stakeholders joined in. We took the rescued persons to the hospital. In total, we brought out 15 persons, made up of eight dead and seven alive. But one of the initial survivors died on the way to the hospital.

“When we got to the scene, it was easier to rescue the survivors because they were at the rear end of the plane and the fire didn't get to them much, because the plane broke into two on impact with the ground.

“However, while we were on the way to the hospital, one of the survivors died as a result of shock and possible internal haemorrhage but that is subject to autopsy results.

“The survivors are in a stable condition at the moment as they were not badly burnt. But they cannot talk at the moment because they are traumatised. They are currently in the emergency ward of LASUTH.”

A senior member of staff of Sahara Energy, whose aviation fuel tank farm was within the vicinity where the plane crashed, said the situation could have been worse if they had not reacted immediately by carrying out an emergency fire dousing exercise before the emergency agencies arrived.

He said: “We were working there when we heard a loud bang. We all rushed outside and saw the inferno. As we have been drilled several times for such situations, our emergency unit immediately kicked into action.

“We had already started dousing the fire when the emergency services came. We couldn’t rescue anyone because the inferno was considerable and at that point, the focus was to prevent the fire from extending to the tank farms.”

After rescue workers had recovered the bodies of the dead and brought out the survivors, they set about to evacuate the casket containing the remains of the former governor.
Also, hours after the rescue operation, the Lagos State Chief Coroner and Pathologist from LASUTH, Prof. John Obafunwa, visited the crash scene.

THISDAY gathered that the coroner was at the scene with his team to gather forensics that would aid the autopsy to be carried out later at the morgue, in line with the state’s Coroner’s Law.
As at press time, it was gathered that the bodies of the victims, had been deposited at the Lekan Ogunsola Memorial Mortuary of LASUTH, Ikeja, where those of the Dana crash victims were deposited before an autopsy was done on them.

Meanwhile President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday received with great shock and sadness, news of the tragic airplane crash in Lagos.

On behalf of himself, his family and the federal government, the president extended condolences to all the families who lost loved ones in the plane crash, and to the government and people of Ondo State who were plunged into sorrow yet again while preparing to lay their former governor to rest.

The president said he felt and shared the grief and pain of the Agagu family as they grapple with the further loss of beloved relatives and associates so soon after losing their husband, father and mentor.

He prayed that God Almighty would comfort the Agagu family, as well as their relatives and friends, and grant them the divine grace to overcome the trauma of this most trying time.
Jonathan said he viewed the plane crash as most unfortunate and regrettable, given the concerted efforts of the federal government to enhance aviation safety in the country.

He ordered a thorough investigation into the crash by all relevant agencies with a view to determining the cause and taking further actions, as may become necessary.

ON BOARD
  Feyi Agagu (Survivor)
  Femi Akinsanya (Survivor)
  Akintunde Joseph (Survivor)
  Akeem Akintunde (Survivor)
  Tunji Okusanya Snr.
  Chijioke Duru
  Kingsley Amaechi
  Deji Afolabi
  Mrs. A.O. Alabi
  Daji Bernard
  Deji Falae
  Samson Hassan
  Olatunji Okusanya Jnr.

Crew
  Captain Yakubu
  Flight Officer Oyinlola
  Engineer Soroh Ebiya
  Flight Dispatcher Ibrahim
  Mr. Felix Latoya
  Queeneth Owolabi (Survivor)
Cabin attendant Samson

Culled from Thisday