1973 Kano Nigeria Airways Boeing 707 crash
Alia Royal Jordanian Airlines on behalf of Nigeria Airways Boeing 707-3D3C · Landing gear collapse, bad weather
From Kandara Airport, Jeddah to Murtala Muhammed International Airport (LOS)
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 176 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 202
- Survivors
- 26
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- 25
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Airline
Boeing 707-3D3C
- Aircraft type
- Boeing 707
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- JY-ADO
- Onboard fatalities
- 176
- Route
- From Kandara Airport, JeddahTo Murtala Muhammed International Airport (LOS)
Cause areas
- Personnel issues › Action/decision
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
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.
Flight
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.
The pilots had to make a second landing attempt due to low visibility from haze and a harmattan. 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. 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 it was the deadliest aviation accident, a distinction it only held for about 14 months until Turkish Airlines Flight 981 crashed in France, killing 346 people. 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.
Investigation and cause
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. According to GeoJournal, the crash was the result of a "mechanical factor". 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.
Text from the Wikipedia article “1973 Kano Nigeria Airways Boeing 707 crash” (revision 1368641099, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: 1973 Kano Nigeria Airways Boeing 707 crash
- Revision
- 1368641099 · 2026-08-10 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q6364195
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "1973 Kano Nigeria Airways Boeing 707 crash" (page 32843728, revision 1368641099)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- operator named as an airline in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.