US embassy cable - 05ABUJA2039

UNCLAS ABUJA 002039 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR AF, CA, DS 
DOT FOR OIA, ALSO FAA 
DAKAR FOR FAA EDWARD JONES 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CASC, EAIR, ASEC, AEMR, AMGT, NI, BELLVIEW 
SUBJECT: NIGERIA REQUESTS U.S. ASSISTANCE IN INVESTIGATING 
BELLVIEW AIRLINES' FATAL CRASH 
 
REF:  A. ABUJA 2032 AND PREVIOUS 
 
      B. LAGOS 1648 AND PREVIOUS 
 
1. (U) This cable contains an action request.  Please see 
paragraph 5. 
 
2. (U) The Government of Nigeria (GON) requested in a letter 
dated Oct. 24 technical assistance from the U.S. Government 
in investigating the Oct. 22 crash of a Bellview Airlines 
Boeing 737 about 30 km north of Lagos.  According to press 
reports, all of the flight's six crew members and all 111 
passengers were killed.  The victims included the chief of 
the U.S. Embassy's Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC).  The 
cause of the crash is not known. 
 
3. (U) The letter (ref B), which was signed by F.C. 
Onyeyiri, director general of the Nigerian Civil Aviation 
Authority, is inspecific and contains only two substantive 
paragraphs.  The letter's main point notes the GON wishes 
"to formally request for technical assistance in our 
determined effort to move the aviation industry forward 
especially in the light of the recent accident involving a 
Boeing 737 aircraft in our country." 
 
4. (SBU) The GON's rescue efforts following the plane crash 
were poorly coordinated, contradictory, and chaotic.  The 
GON also did not initially maintain security at or safeguard 
the crash site. 
 
5. (SBU) Embassy Abuja requests that the Department and U.S. 
transportation and safety agencies interpret as broadly as 
possible Nigeria's request for help, to include assistance 
in the areas of forensic and accident investigation.  This 
also will aid the U.S. Mission Nigeria in securing the 
remains of its ODC commander.  Embassy Abuja continues to 
provide support and assistance to the family of its deceased 
ODC chief. 
 
CAMPBELL