The Kano air disaster was a chartered

Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial first flew on December 20, ...

passenger flight on 22 January 1973 that crashed while attempting to land at Kano International Airport. It is the deadliest aviation disaster ever to take place in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, as 176 passengers and crew perished in the crash. There were 26 survivors.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved in the accident was a 2 year old

-3D3C, JY-ADO, owned by Alia

Royal Jordanian Airlines Royal Jordanian Airlines ( ar, ; transliterated: ''Al-Malakiyyah al-'Urduniyyah''), formerly known as Alia Royal Jordanian Airlines, is the flag carrier airline of Jordan with its head office in the capital, Amman. The airline operates scheduled ...

, operating on behalf of Nigeria Airways. It first flew in 1971 and was powered by 4

Pratt and Whitney Pratt & Whitney is an American aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies. Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation (especially airlines) and military aviat ...

JT3D The Pratt & Whitney JT3D is an early turbofan aircraft engine derived from the Pratt & Whitney JT3C. It was first run in 1958 and was first flown in 1959 under a B-45 Tornado test aircraft. Over 8,000 JT3Ds were produced between 1959 and 1985. M ...

engines. It had a manufacturer serial number (MSN) of 850.

Flight

The Boeing 707, operated by

Alia Alia or ALIA may refer to: People *Alia (name), a list of people with the surname or given name Places *Alia, Sicily, Italy, a comune * Alia (Phrygia), a town of ancient Phrygia which remains a Roman Catholic titular bishopric *Alía, Spain, a mu ...

, had been chartered by

Nigeria Airways Nigeria Airways Ltd., more commonly known as Nigeria Airways, was a Nigerian airline. The company was founded in 1958 after the dissolution of West African Airways Corporation (WAAC). It held the name West African Airways Corporation Nigeria ( ...

to fly pilgrims back from

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's promi ...

Lagos, Nigeria Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...

. Bad weather at Lagos caused the crew to divert to

Kano Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria * Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State **Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries **Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between ...

. 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 Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...

leg subsequently collapsed. The 707 turned 180 degrees, excursed from the runway and burst into flames. Of the 202 passengers and crew on board, 176 died. At the time of its occurrence, the Kano air disaster was the deadliest ''civil'' aviation accident, a distinction it only held for about 14 months when

Turkish Airlines Flight 981 Turkish Airlines Flight 981 was a scheduled flight from Istanbul Yeşilköy Airport to London Heathrow Airport, with an intermediate stop at Orly Airport in Paris. On 3 March 1974, the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 operating the flight crashed into ...

crashed in France and killed 346 people, becoming the overall deadliest aviation disaster (after also surpassing the

1968 Kham Duc C-130 shootdown The 1968 Kham Duc C-130 shootdown was the aircraft shootdown of a United States Air Force Lockheed C-130B Hercules aircraft during the Battle of Kham Duc on May 12, 1968. Everyone on board, 183 Vietnamese civilians, one U.S. Special Forces officer ...

which claimed 189 lives). It was also the deadliest aviation disaster involving a Boeing 707 at the time until another Alia Royal Jordanian plane crashed in Morocco two years later.

References

Airliner accidents and incidents caused by weather Aviation accidents and incidents in 1973 Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 707 Aviation accidents and incidents in Nigeria Royal Jordanian accidents and incidents Nigeria Airways accidents and incidents 1973 meteorology January 1973 events in Africa {{aviation-accident-stub