What happened
On a positioning flight from Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos to Bebi airstrip, the Beech 1900D, registered 5N-JAH, departed at 07:36 hours. While the original flight plan intended for a specific route via several waypoints, the aircraft deviated from its filed path after passing POTGO. The crew began navigating via airway UA609 directly toward IKROP.
During the flight, the crew encountered conflicting distance information regarding their destination when utilizing the Global Positioning System (GPS). In an attempt to resolve these discrepancies, the crew manually entered specific coordinates and focused on visually locating the Bebi airstrip. During this period, the Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) issued multiple "Terrain, terrain... pull up" alerts, which were not acted upon by the crew.
The aircraft struck terrain at approximately 09:20:15 hours at an altitude of roughly 3,400 feet near Bushi Village. The impact resulted in three fatalities and the total destruction of the aircraft. The wreckage was later discovered by hunters in a heavily wooded area on 30 August 2008.
Findings
Investigation of the flight data recorder indicates that the aircraft was operating under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) and had requested various descents during the flight. The primary factor in the accident was the crew's failure to respond to multiple GPWS terrain warnings while preoccupied with resolving navigational discrepancies and searching for the airstrip visually.