What happened
Following departure from Port Harcourt Airport, the crew received clearance to climb to FL240. After establishing contact with Lagos Approach Control at 15:47, the aircraft reported passing the SEPER waypoint at 15:54. During this period, the crew failed to respond to two consecutive communications from Approach Control, eventually responding to a transmission intended for another aircraft.
At the same time, a Triax Airlines Boeing 727 (Flight TIX185) was operating at FL160, traveling toward Enugu. To allow a corporate jet, registration 5N-APN, to pass at FL210, the controller delayed a requested descent for the first aircraft. By 15:59, the flight was cleared to FL160 and directed to contact Lagos Radar. Radar identified the aircraft 41 miles southeast of the airport and issued instructions to fly a heading of 320° to avoid the Triax flight, alongside a descent to FL50.
At 16:02:50, the pilot was instructed twice to maintain a heading of 300°. The captain then assumed control from the copilot, stating he had the traffic and would adjust his heading to 330° for avoidance. This was the final communication from the crew.
Flight data recorder analysis shows the aircraft initially performed a coordinated turn toward 330°. However, the flight path became unstable, with the bank angle increasing from 43.2° to 68.8°, and eventually reaching 83°. The aircraft crashed into the lagoon approximately 7.5 km west of Ejirin. While data suggests a possible attempt at recovery just before impact, the aircraft disintegrated upon hitting the water. The accident resulted in 144 fatalities.
Findings
Data from the flight recorder indicates the aircraft likely experienced a high speed stall accompanied by a roll and nose-down attitude.