Bellview airline Boeing 737 plane crash

The flight 201 from Bellview airline was performing a passenger flight from Lagos to Abuja with 111 passengers and 6 crew members onboard when it crashed near Lagos a few minutes after take-off.

The 737 left Lagos at 20:35 local time and there was thunderstorm activity in the vicinity of the city at the time, which could be the cause of the accident. The exact circumstances surrounding the crash are unclear, although local press reports quote officials as saying that communication was lost with the aircraft around 3min after take-off (possibly following a distress call) and that it crashed 7min later. The crew had asked for air traffic control assistance in avoiding storm activity.

Investigations indicate that the aircraft may have “stalled” after passing FL130 (13,000ft/3,970m) and “nose-dived into the ground”. The loss of communications could have been a result of the lightning causing the aircraft’s electrical system to fail.

The aircraft came down around 30km (19 miles) north of Lagos, with witnesses reporting that it was on fire before it struck the ground. The impact created a large crater around 12m deep, with little remaining of the aircraft.

Another cause of the accident could be a terrorism act.