US embassy cable - 05LAGOS1734

S E C R E T LAGOS 001734 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/07/2015 
TAGS: CASC, EAIR, NI, ASEC, PTER, PREL 
SUBJECT: BELLVIEW CRASH:  POTENTIALLY WORRISOME EVIDENCE 
 
REF: REF: LAGOS 1726 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: CONSUL GENERAL B. L. BROWNE FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) 
 
1.  (U)  This is an action request.  See paragraph 8. 
 
2.  (S)  On November 5, Charge Tom Furey, the Lagos Consul 
General and other Consulate staff accompanied NTSB's Dennis 
Jones to the Lagos airport hangar where Jones and his team 
had begun to piece together parts of the shattered Bellview 
aircraft. 
 
3.  (S)  At the hangar, Jones showed the group a piece of the 
plane's wreckage that caused him serious concern.  This 
wreckage came from the rear half of the airplane, close to 
the cargo hold.  Jones stated the piece was troublesome for 
several reasons.  First, the damage to the shape and 
integrity of the fragment was inconsistent with  damage that 
would be caused by impact.  Second, the fragment showed signs 
of fire much more intense than any other fragment found thus 
far.  Third, the contour of the damaged fragment suggests a 
push of tremendous force from inside the plane had taken 
place against this piece.  Fourth, although eye witness 
accounts conflicted, some witnesses claimed seeing fire 
emanating from the plane's tail area prior to impact.  Fifth, 
there was a small, thus far, unidentifiable wired device 
found near the fragment at the crash site. 
 
4.  (S)  While admittedly not an expert in this field of 
forensics, Jones state that the above evidence raised the 
possibility of an on-board explosion.  Given that this 
brought a new, possibly criminal dimension to what had 
heretofore been a "normal" crash investigation, Jones 
suggested the need for forensic experts in explosives and 
fingerprinting to join the investigation. 
 
5.  (S)  The Government of Nigeria's Director of Accident 
Investigations had joined us at the hangar.  We recommended 
that he quickly alert the Aviation Minister, who was in 
Abuja, to journey to Lagos to be briefed on this development. 
 The Aviation Minister came to Lagos this afternoon and has 
visited the hangar.  We are scheduled to meet with him later 
today to coordinate next steps.  Even before that meeting, we 
stressed to the Accident Investigations Director the need to 
prevent further compromise to the site.  We emphasized to him 
the enhanced need to fence the site and to keep on-lookers 
off the premises.  We also cautioned that the GON should 
prevent compromising the investigation by eschewing premature 
public statements or speculation in the press about the cause 
of the accident. 
 
6.  (S)  After we talk to Aviation Minister Borishade, we 
believe he will seek to brief President Obasanjo at the 
earliest opportunity.  At that juncture, the GON security 
agencies will be brought in and will of course have the lead 
in any criminal aspects of the investigation.  However, they 
sorely lack in the necessary expertise.  The will need our 
assistance in this aspect of the investigation, as they have 
needed our expertise in all other aspects of this 
investigation. 
 
7.  (S) Legatt Lagos has informally contacted FBI 
headquarters about the need for explosives and fingerprint 
forensic experts. 
 
8.  (S)  Action Request:  Post requests Washington send a 
team of explosives and fingerprint forensic experts to assist 
in the investigation of the Bellview crash. 
BROWNE