1973 Kano Nigeria Airways Boeing 707 crash

1973 aviation accident in Nigeria August 2026 April 2026 Boeing 707-3D3C JY-ADO Alia LHR 22.08.71 edited-2.jpg JY-ADO, the aircraft involved in the accident, seen in 1971 Accident 1973 01 22 y Landing gear collapse, bad weather Kano International Airport (KAN), Nigeria 12 02 58 N 8 31 15 E inline,title Boeing 707-3D3C Petra Alia Royal Jordanian Airlines on behalf of Nigeria Airways JY-ADO Kandara Airport, Jeddah Ikeja Int'l Airport, Lagos (now Murtala Muhammed Int'l Airport) 202 193 9 176 25 26 On 22 January 1973, a Nigeria Airways Boeing 707 crashed at Kano International Airport while attempting to land in high winds. The crash killed 176 passengers and crew. There were 26 survivors. The crash remains the deadliest aviation disaster ever in Nigeria. 19730122-0 JY-ADO Aircraft The aircraft involved in the accident was a two-year-old Boeing 707-3D3C, JY-ADO, owned by Alia Royal Jordanian Airlines, operating on behalf of Nigeria Airways. It first flew in 1971 and was powered by four Pratt and Whitney JT3D engines.Crash of a Boeing 707-3D3C in Kano: 176 killed https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-boeing-707-3d3c-kano-176-killed 2021-03-10 www.baaa-acro.com Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives The Captain of the flight was 53-year-old John Waterman, who had been flying for 22 years in the Middle East and had accumulated 22,000 hours of flying experience.DISASTERS: End of a Pilgrimage https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,906816,00.html 27 January 2025 Time 5 February 1973Johnson Thomas A. Pilgrims' Jet Crashes in Nigeria; 180 Are Feared Dead, a Record https://www.nytimes.com/1973/01/23/archives/pilgrims-jet-crashes-in-nigeria180-are-feared-dead-a-record-180-are.html 27 January 2025 The New York Times 23 January 197328 January 1973 Algerian, Airline Official Dispute 707 Crash Toll https://www.newspapers.com/article/pacific-daily-news-algerian-airline-off/163658353/ 27 January 2025 Pacific Daily News Agana Heights, Guam 12 Newspapers.com UPI Flight Africa 240 left A map showing the locations of the Jeddah King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED - where the flight originated), Ikeja International Airport (LOS) and Kano International Airport (KAN - the site of the accident) A map showing the intended route and crash site 1 JED Airplane_silhouette.svg 10 21 40 46 N 039 09 24 E KAN 10 12 02 51 N 008 31 28 E LOS Airplane_silhouette.svg 10 06 34 38 N 003 19 16 E thumb|Overview of Kano International Airport, the site of the accident The Boeing 707, operated by Alia, had been chartered by Nigeria Airways to fly pilgrims back from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Lagos, Nigeria. Due to bad weather conditions at Lagos, the pilots had to divert the flight to Kano.事故詳細 （事故No,19730122a） Accident details (Accident No. 19730122a) https://www.eonet.ne.jp/~phantom/civil_aviation/cadb/wadr/accident/19730122a.htm 27 January 2025 eonet.ne.jp ja The pilots had to make a second landing attempt due to low visibility from haze and a harmattan.Pilgrim plane crash toll 156 https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-post-merseyside-ed-pilgrim-plan/163652241/ 27 January 2025 Daily Post 24 January 1973 Liverpool, Merseyside, England 12 Newspapers.com 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. Accident details http://www.planecrashinfo.com/1973/1973-4.htm www.planecrashinfo.com 2016-02-14 The right main landing gear leg subsequently collapsed. The aircraft turned 180 degrees, left the runway and burst into flames. Of the 202 passengers and crew on board, 176 died and 26 survived, including captain Waterman. At the time, the crash surpassed the Aeroflot Flight 217 crash in Russia to become the world's deadliest aviation accident, a distinction it only held for about 14 months until Turkish Airlines Flight 981 crashed in France, killing 346 people.1973-01-22 World's Worst Plane Crash Kills 190 Pilgrims https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HKsvAAAAIBAJ&sjid=REwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5204,1605506&dq=nigeria+airways+kano+crash&hl=en 2017-08-29 Ludington Daily News Google News Archive UPI 19740303-1 TC-JAV 31 July 2013 The Kano aircraft crash 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, killing all 188 passengers and crew. 19750803-1 JY-AEE 15 May 2020 Investigation In 1975, the Nigerian government concluded that the cause of crash was pilot error, stating that captain Waterman flew the aircraft in a reckless manner.1975-09-18 U.S. Pilot Blamed for Crash That Killed 157 in Nigeria https://www.nytimes.com/1975/09/18/archives/us-pilot-blamed-for-crash-that-killed-157-in-nigeria.html 2025-07-21 The New York Times en-US 0362-4331 According to GeoJournal, the crash was the result of a "mechanical factor".Oluwakoya Adeniyi O. Ogundipe Seun Irinyemi Ademola Benson Spatio-temporal patterns of air crashes in Nigeria between 1960 and 2012 GeoJournal October 2021 86 5 2407–2417 10.1007/s10708-020-10209-0 2021GeoJo..86.2407O https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10708-020-10209-0 1 May 2025 subscription A UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) paper published in 2003 references the crash and an assessment that all fatalities were a result of the fire, and reports a "prolonged pause" before evacuation.CAA Paper 2002/04: A Benefit Analysis for Cabin Water Spray Systems and Enhanced Fuselage Burnthrough Protection UK Civil Aviation Authority https://www.caa.co.uk/our-work/publications/documents/content/caa-paper-200204/ 2025-09-27 www.caa.co.uk References Nigeria Jordan 1970s Aviation 2 collapsed Category:Airliner accidents and incidents caused by weather Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1973 Category:Aviation accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 707 Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Nigeria Category:Royal Jordanian accidents and incidents Category:Nigeria Airways accidents and incidents Category:Meteorological events in 1973 Category:January 1973 in Africa