The details emerged as
search and rescue crews worked to recover bodies from the wreckage,
while authorities searched for the flight data recorders to try to piece
together what brought down the plane Sunday, killing all 153 people
aboard and at least 10 on the ground.
The death toll will
probably rise as crews search the rubble of a two-story residential
building that the McDonnell Douglas MD-83 plane struck.
It was unclear how many
people were inside the building and on the street outside at the time of
the crash, Mohammad Sani Sidi, the emergency management director, told
CNN from the crash site.
The pilot declared an
emergency as the plane was on final approach to Murtala Muhammed
International Airport, and witnesses said it appeared the plane was
having engine trouble, said Oscar Wason, Dana Air's director of
operations.
Wason identified the
pilot as an American, but did not release his name or hometown. The
co-pilot was from India, and the flight engineer from Indonesia, Wason
said.
Among the dead are six Chinese citizens who were on board the flight, the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria said Monday.
According to witnesses,
the passenger plane appeared to be coming in high with its nose up when
it crashed, hitting the ground tail first, Wason said.
The flight, bound from
the Nigerian capital of Abuja, crashed at 3:43 p.m. (10:43 a.m. ET) in
the neighborhood of Iju Ishaga, just north of the airport, according to
the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.
The crash site was 11 miles from the runway, Wason said.
By Monday morning, crews had recovered more than 80 bodies, including 10 believed to be residents of the building, Sidi said.
CNN
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