Investigators on Tuesday announced that they have found the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder of the MD-83 that crashed on Sunday afternoon into the heavily populated city of Lagos, Nigeria, killing all 153 aboard and a number of others on the ground.
Recovery workers had found 150 bodies as of Tuesday afternoon. They continued to search the crash site despite delays caused by poor weather, according to a report by the Associated Press. A three-story apartment building struck by the aircraft began to shake on Monday evening, triggering fears of a collapse and further adding to difficulties faced by emergency personnel attempting to search through the wreckage.
While many details surrounding the accident remain unknown, the pilot of the Dana Air MD-83, an American, reported trouble with both engines and declared an emergency while on approach to Murtala Muhammed International Airport directly before the crash. The aircraft, which had taken off from the capital city of Abuja, crashed into a densely populated area approximately five miles from the airport.
The 22-year-old aircraft formerly belonged to Alaska Airlines and had reportedly undergone a maintenance check just three days prior to the accident. Two months earlier, the aircraft lost power in one engine due to a bird strike.
An NTSB investigator is expected to join Nigerian authorities this week as the country’s Accident Investigation Bureau begins to probe the accident, which is Nigeria’s deadliest crash in nearly 20 years.
In the wake of the crash, Nigeria’s aviation ministry has indefinitely suspended Dana Air’s license.
In the video below, witnesses describe what they saw directly before the crash.
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