Jos – Yola – Maiduguri

On January 31, 1997 at 12:00 AM, Jos – Yola – Maiduguri experienced a crash involving Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante, operated by Skypower Express Airways, with the event recorded near Yola Adamawa.

The flight was categorized as charter/taxi (non scheduled revenue flight) and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

16 people were known to be on board, 5 fatalities were recorded, 11 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 31.3%.

Crew on board: 3, crew fatalities: 3, passengers on board: 13, passenger fatalities: 2, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. While approaching Yola Airport, the crew encountered poor weather conditions. The captain decided to abandon the approach and initiated a go-around procedure. The crew followed a holding pattern for about an hour before starting a second attempt to land. On final approach, the crew failed to realize his altitude was insufficient when the aircraft struck tree tops and a powerline before crashing 700 metres short of runway 17. All three crew members and two passengers were killed. The remaining 11 passengers were injured.

Aircraft reference details include registration 5N-AXS, MSN 110-458, year of manufacture 1984.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 9.1906°, 12.5009°.