Bellview Airlines Flight 210

Flight 210 was cleared for departure from Murtala Muhammed Airport at 19:28:50 UTC, operating under instrument flight rules (IFR). After takeoff as the aircraft entered a right turn at 19:31:52, the tower controller advised the crew to contact the approach controller. At 19:32:22 the flight made its first contact with approach control, stating "Approach, Bellview 210 is with you on a right turn coming out of 1600 (feet)." The controller responded, "Report again passing one three zero." At 19:32:35 the crew confirmed this communication and that was the last transmission from the flight. At 19:43:46 the controller tried to contact the flight, but was unsuccessful.[1] The aircraft crashed into an area of flat terrain located 14 kilometres (8.7 mi; 7.6 nmi) north of the airport.[1]

An alert was raised with the National Emergency Management Agency to start a search and rescue operation. The aircraft was first reported found on Sunday morning by a police helicopter search team near the rural town of Kishi, Oyo state, 400 kilometres (250 mi; 220 nmi) from Lagos. It was suggested 50 people might have survived, but officials later retracted statements about the plane's location and survivors after a TV crew said it had found the aircraft near the village of Lisa in Ogun state, about 50 kilometres (31 mi; 27 nmi) from Lagos.[1][2][3][4]

The impact crater covered an area measured 57 feet by 54 feet and 30 feet deep. Nigerian Red Cross officials confirmed no sign of survivors had been found at the scene. All 117 on board had been killed and the aircraft was destroyed.[1]

A Bellview Airlines Boeing 737-200 similar to the aircraft involved in the accident.

The aircraft (named Resilence) was a twin-engined Boeing 737-2B7 registered in Nigeria as 5N-BFN. The aircraft was manufactured in 1981 with manufacturers serial number 22734 and was first delivered to Maersk Air before acquired by Bellview Airlines. The aircraft had logged 55,772 flight hours and 36,266 takeoff/landing cycles at the time of the crash. The Boeing entered the Nigerian Register on 21 March 2003. Inspections were carried out in accordance with an Approved Maintenance Programme at the facility of Royal Air Maroc, Morocco between 28 December 2004 and 12 February 2005.[1][5][6]

The last check was performed on the aircraft by Bellview Airlines Engineers at Lagos in October 2005. Review of the engine records showed that engine no.1 was last overhauled in August 2004 and installed on the aircraft in October 2004 while engine no.2 was last overhauled in May 2005 and installed on 13 September 2005.[1]

The plane was carrying 6 crewmembers and 111 passengers, most of whom were thought to be Nigerians.[2] There were also at least 10 Ghanaians, 2 Britons, one German, one South African, one Malian and one U.S citizen.[7][8][9][10]

The cockpit crew consisted of:

• Captain Imasuen Lambert from Okada, Albarka joined Bellview Airlines in October 2004. He had logged a total of 13,429 hours of flight experience, including 1,053 hours on the Boeing 737. Lambert had worked for Imani Aviation, Okada Air, Gas Air and Kabo Airlines. He was out of active flying for 12 years, between 1992 and 2004. Interview with company pilots who had flown with the captain indicated his performance was satisfactory.[1]
• First Officer Eshun Ernest, a Ghana national, whose wife Sarah was also on board.[11][12][13][14] He was less experienced than Captain Lambert, having a total of 762 flight hours, with 451 of them on the Boeing 737.[1]
• Flight Engineer Sanni Steve from Imane, Olamaboro Local Government of Kogi State.[1]

A notable passenger was Cheick Oumar Diarra, a General from Mali and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) deputy executive secretary.[15][16][17]

The AIB's investigation was hampered by the lack of data recorder evidence and the official report was not released until February 2013. After the crash searchers were unable to find either the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) or flight data recorder (FDR). The aircraft impacted in a nearly vertical angle at high speed causing most of the aircraft's components to be severely damaged and/or unidentifiable. About 60% of the wreckage was recovered. Smoke from the crater continued for several days and investigators stated that the crash wasn't survivable. Investigators reportedly found only human remains described as "nothing bigger than toes and fingers."[1]

Records obtained by the Associated Press (AP) showed that Captain Imasuen had gone back to work as a pilot despite being shot in the head years before in a robbery attempt during a long break from flying. He had been hired by Bellview Airlines after he had been working at a dairy for about 14 years.[1][18] There was also an unverified report that he had been suspended for 2 weeks from the airline for refusing to fly an airplane that was unsafe.[19][20] The investigation further revealed the pilots' manual included blank pages instead of key safety information.[1][21] The crash caused the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to criticise the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) as they failed to enforce safety regulations and oversight.[22][23][24][25][26][27] There were also unverified reports of alleged looting at the crash site.[28][29][30][27][19]

AIB could not identify the cause of the accident, but considered several factors:[1]

• The pilot-in-command (PIC) training of the Captain was inadequate, and the cumulative flight hours of the pilot in the days before the accident which was indicative of excessive workload that could lead to fatigue. The investigation was unable to determine the captain's medical condition at the time of the accident.[1]
• The aircraft had a number of technical defects and should not have been flown for either the accident flight or earlier flights. The airline failed to maintain an operating and maintenance regime within the regulations and the Civil Aviation Authority's safety oversight of the operator's procedures and operations was inadequate.[1][37][31]

With no ability to reconstruct the flight the investigation was unable to come to any conclusion of the aircraft or crews performance or the effect of the weather on the flight. The AIB could not reach a conclusion about the cause but made four safety recommendations in the report:

1. The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority should improve oversight of airline maintenance and operations.[1]
2. The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency should increase radar coverage to enhance air traffic services and assist in search and rescue operations.[1]
3. Bellview should improve its maintenance procedures and authorisations.[1]
4. Bellview should review its safety and quality control regime.[1]

• Colgan Air Flight 3407
• Tatarstan Airlines Flight 363

• Report on the Accident involving Bellview Airlines Ltd B737 200 Reg. 5N BFN at Lisa Village, Ogun State, Nigeria On 22 October 2005 (Alternate Archive). Accident Investigation Bureau.
• Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network