Today is the 25th year since the ADC crash in Lagos.
The cenotaph erected in memory of the ADC crash victims at Itoikin near the Ejirin river along the Ikorodu Epe Expressway in 1996 was a beehive this Sunday as families and friends converge to pray and lay wreaths at the site.
Captain Augustine Okon, chairman of ADC who spoke at the site, said November 7th every year, he visits the site to remember his friends and his valued passengers who lost their lives in the Ill-fated Boeing 727 crash.
He said, the airline’s priority back then was safety and they had the best pilots and crew and adequate manpower well trained and passengers that trusted them to take them safely to their destinations.
Capt. Okon stated that, the cause of the accident was well investigated which revealed that according to the Accident Investigation and Prevention Bureau, AIPB as it was known then was caused by Air Traffic Control error when it cleared two aircraft at the same time to head in the same direction and in attempt to avoid a midair collision, the aircraft lost control and plunge into the ejirin river where 144 passengers including pilots and crew died.
He said, “we are very pained but we have to move on” urging families of victims not to abandon the crash site.
Also speaking at the gathering, brother of the captain of the ill fated aircraft Captain Dafieko Emmy Sama, Mr. Dafe Urhobo-Sama in an emotional laden voice said, flight 086 was an ugly incident and pray God to help them endure the pains caused by the ugly and painful accident.
Other families who spoke said, life has not remain the same for them after the sad new of the death of their lived ones 25 years ago.
