Port Harcourt Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Port Harcourt Nicaragua
Saturday, December 10, 2005 13:08 UTC

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

On December 10, 2005, at about 1408 hours local time, Nigerian registry 5N-BFD, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31, operated by Sosoliso Airlines, collided with the ground during an instrument approach to runway 21 at Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Instrument meteorlogical conditions and thunderstorms prevailed. The 2 flightcrew crewmembers, 5 cabin crew members, and 100 passengers were fatally injured. Three passengers received serious injuries. The aircraft was destroyed. There was fire. The departure point was Abuja, Nigeria. The investigation is under the jurisdiction of the Nigerian Accident Investigation and Prevention Bureau, Abjua, Nigeria. The US Accredited Representative is Dennis Jones, NTSB, Washington, D.C. (202-314-6321)

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/10/2005
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1308
Event Time Zone Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT
Event City Port Harcourt
Event State --
Event Country NICARAGUA
Zipcode of the event site --
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport Port Harcourt Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID PHC
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 87
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID PHC
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions --
Lowest Ceiling Height 1000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 2
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 23
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 360
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.64
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal 107
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 3
Injury Total All 110
Investigating Agency Foreign
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) --
NTSB Notification Source
NTSB Notification Date Dec 10 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jan 26 2006 5:28AM
User who most recently changed record JOND
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number --
NTSB Number WAS06RA005
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Non-U.S., Commercial
Type of Flight Plan filed --
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire Ground
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name McDonnell Douglas
Aircraft Model DC-9-31
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 47562/685
Certified Max Gross Weight --
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft --
Number of Engines --
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed --
ELT Activated --
ELT Aided Location of Event Site --
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name --
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City --
Aircraft Owner State --
Aircraft Owner Country --
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? --
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? --
Operator Street Address 5 Henry Adefope Street
Operator City Ikeja, Lagos
Operator State --
Operator Country NI
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not Scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Domestic
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Passenger Only
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) --
Second Pilot on Board --
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code ABV
Departure City Ajuba
Departure State --
Departure Country NI
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code PHC
Destination City Port Harcourt
Destination State --
Destination Country NI
Specific Phase of Flight Missed approach (IFR)
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 26 2006 5:29AM
User who most recently changed record JOND
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 21
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --