The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has confirmed our worst fears that no one onboard the ill-fated Dana Air Plane survived the crash.
That means that the official death total is 153 passengers and if we add those that were in the house that the plane crashed into, the death toll might be higher.
Another striking revelation is that the plane which Dana Air used in carrying the passengers was the same Dana Air McDonnell Douglas MD-83 which crash landed in Lagos on May 10.
Read this excerpt from a News Agency of Nigeria report back then:
“A Dana Air flight carrying 86 passengers from Uyo on Thursday made an emergency landing at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, following “loss of hydraulic pressure”.
Dr Harold Demuren, Director-General, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria.”
Another source, a lecturer revealed to us that on May 25 he took the Dana Air plane, with registration number 5N-RAM from Lagos-Calabar, and that mid-flight they had to return to Lagos after the plane developed technical hitches.
An unconfirmed report has it that on May 3, an unnamed Lagos station manager of the airline was reported to have drawn the attention of management of the airlines that the aircraft in question(Dana Air McDonnell Douglas MD-83 with registration number 5N-RAM) needed to be grounded for general check-up but that alarm was ignored.
The Dana Air McDonnell Douglas MD-83 was bought second hand from US-based Alaska Airlines on February 17, 2009.
As of the time of going to press, except the manifest released by Dana Air, no official explanation or apologies has been given as to what caused the crash.