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Reference ID	Created	Released	Classification	Origin
06ABUJA2867	2006-11-01 07:51	2011-08-30 01:44	UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY	Embassy Abuja

VZCZCXRO5971
PP RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHUJA #2867/01 3050751
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 010751Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY ABUJA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7641
INFO RUEHOS/AMCONSUL LAGOS 5413
RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 0374
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 0306
RULSDMK/DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHDC
RUEANHA/FAA NATIONAL HQ WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 002867 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DOT PASS TO FAA 
DAKAR PASS TO FAA REP ED JONES 
ROME PASS TO TSA REP JOHN HALINSKI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAIR CASC AMGT ASEC NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA ADC AIR CRASH SHAKES CONFIDENCE IN SECTOR 
 
REF:  ABUJA 2830 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  Nigeria's troubled aviation sector suffered 
another major blow with the October 29 crash of a Sokoto-bound ADC 
Airlines Boeing 737 aircraft just beyond Abuja International 
Airport, which killed at least 98 persons.  Minister of Aviation 
Babalola Borishade blamed the crash on pilot error and said ADC's 
operating license was suspended "indefinitely."  North American 
Airlines' Nigeria country manager predicted that because Nigerian 
travelers have long memories for aviation tragedies, the ADC crash 
may cause the airline to go out of business.  This crash, on the 
heels of other serious ones in the past 53 weeks, show the problems 
within Nigeria's aviation sector are fundamental.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Nigeria's troubled aviation sector suffered another major 
blow with the October 29 crash of a Sokoto-bound ADC Airlines Boeing 
737 aircraft at Zuba village, just beyond Abuja International 
Airport and on the outskirts of Abuja.  The ADC flight was carrying 
101 passengers and five crew members.  The crash killed at least 98 
persons, including the sultan of Sokoto, the Sokoto State Deputy 
Governor, three senators, one son of former Nigerian President Shehu 
Shagari, and other prominent politicians. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Henry Seymour, North American Airlines (NAA) Country 
Manager, told a Lagos economic officer that ADC itself will bear the 
brunt of fallout from the crash, rather than the domestic aviation 
sector as a whole.  Seymour said ADC already was weakened following 
a November 1996 crash, when one of its jets plunged into a lagoon 
outside Lagos, killing all 143 persons aboard.  The NAA official 
said Nigerians have long memories for aviation tragedies, will 
likely avoid flying ADC in the future, and that the most recent 
crash may spell the end for ADC Airlines. 
 
Aviation Minister Blames the Pilot 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) Minister of Aviation Babalola Borishade reported at an 
October 30 news conference that a preliminary investigation found 
the ADC pilot requested permission from the Abuja control tower to 
take off.  The tower controller granted permission but gave a wind 
report warning of adverse weather, including thunderstorms and 
lightning around the airfield.  Borishade said the pilot disregarded 
the warning and took off, before crashing fewer than two minutes 
after takeoff.  The minister announced that the Government of 
Nigeria (GON) had suspended ADC Airlines' operating license 
"indefinitely." 
 
Aircraft's "Black Boxes" Recovered 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (U) The local press reported that government officials carried 
out rescue operations swiftly.  Borishade said rescue operations 
began almost immediately after the control tower lost contact with 
the ADC aircraft.  An official with the Nigerian Accident 
Investigation and Prevention Bureau (AIPB) later said the GON had 
recovered the aircraft's cockpit voice recorder and flight data 
recorder. 
 
Fourth Serious Crash in 53 Weeks 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) The ADC crash was Nigeria's fourth serious one in the past 53 
weeks.  On October 22, 2005 a Bellview Airlines Boeing 737-200 
crashed close to Lagos, killing all 117 people aboard.  On December 
10, 2006 a Sosoliso Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-9 aircraft crashed 
adjacent to Port Harcourt International Airport, killing 107 people. 
 Then, on September 18, 2006 a Nigerian military Dornier 228 
aircraft crashed into a mountain in Benue State, killing 13 out of 
18 senior military officers aboard. 
 
NTSB Investigation Team Arrives October 31 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶7. (U) A four-member U.S. National Transportation Safety Board team, 
including representatives from Boeing and Pratt and Whitney, arrived 
in Abuja on October 31 to assist the AIPB in investigating the cause 
of the ADC crash.  Also, a U.S. Federal Aviation Authority employee 
is scheduled to arrive in Nigeria on November 1 to join the NTSB 
team.  The NTSB team leader said the GON had provided him with a 
copy of the government's findings concerning the December 2005 
Sosoliso Airlines crash in Port Harcourt.  Embassy Abuja does not 
yet have a copy of the GON's report. 
 
ABUJA 00002867  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Compared to Western aviation standards, it is chilling that 
Nigeria's three catastrophic air crashes killed more than 300 
persons total - and involved three different airlines with small 
numbers of aircraft, in a very small aviation sector.  GON officials 
contended repeatedly after the Bellview crash - and then again after 
the Sosoliso crash - that Nigeria had achieved significant progress 
in boosting safety within its domestic aviation industry.  The ADC 
crash demonstrates these claims to be hollow and the problems within 
Nigeria's aviation sector to be fundamental.  Nigeria already has a 
badly deficient road network and a nonfunctioning rail network. 
Now, its airline sector continues to exact a high price from those 
persons who wish to fly within Nigeria and from those who feel they 
have no choice but to do so.  Reforming Nigeria's airline industry 
will not be fast or easy, and the impending change of national 
administrations will not aid this process. 
 
CAMPBELL

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Viewing cable 06ABUJA2867, NIGERIA ADC AIR CRASH SHAKES CONFIDENCE IN SECTOR