Remembering the Kano air disaster

The Kano air disaster is a story about a chartered Boeing 707 passenger flight that on the 22nd of January 1973 crashed while attempting to land at Kano International Airport. It is the deadliest aviation disaster ever to take place in Nigeria, as 176 passengers and crew perished in the crash. There were 26 survivors.

The Boeing 707 was on a nonscheduled international flight and had been chartered by Nigeria Airways to fly pilgrims back from Jeddah (JED/OEJN) to Lagos (LOS/DNMM). Extremely bad weather at Lagos forced the crew to divert to Kano (KAN/DNKN). The aircraft touched nosewheel first steady and heavy with main wheels barely in contact with the runway. The nosewheel entrenched itself into the ground and then collapsed. The main gear contacted later in rapid deceleration, pierced the main wings and the aircraft collapsed along the runway centreline. A fire broke out immediately and after a prolonged pause the passengers and crew evacuated. Unfortunately, 6 of the 9 crew members and 170 of the 193 passengers were killed. 

The aircraft was owned by Royal Jordanian Airlines, but as the accident was a charter flight operated on behalf of Nigeria Airways, this is considered by AirSafe.com to be both a numbered event for Nigerian Airlines, and a significant event for Royal Jordanian Airlines.

Aircraft Information:

Airline: Royal Jordanian

Code: RJ/RJA

Aircraft: Boeing 707-3D3C

Registration: JY-ADO

Serial Number: 20494

Engines: 4 Pratt & Whitney JT3D-

First Flew: 14/01/1971

Age: 2 Yrs