So far, 153 bodies have
been recovered along with parts of other bodies, said Yushau Shuaib,
spokesman for Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency.
Dana Air's flight 0992 slammed into a two-story residential building Sunday in a densely populated Lagos neighborhood.
Shuaib could not give a
number for recovered body parts. Authorities previously said the crash
killed 153 people aboard the plane and at least 10 people on the ground.
Torrential rain Tuesday
hampered recovery efforts. Among the bodies recovered were those of a
woman and the baby she was clutching.
Nigerian aviation authorities suspended Dana Air's operating license Tuesday.
"As soon as we have
concluded the recertification of the airline, if they are capable, then
their license will be reinstated," said Sam Adurogboye, spokesman for
the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.
Authorities have
recovered the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder, which
are expected to help determine the cause of the crash.
Seven U.S. citizens were aboard the flight, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Tuesday.
The pilot declared an
emergency as the plane was on final approach to Murtala Muhammed
International Airport. Witnesses said it appeared the plane was having
engine trouble, said Oscar Wason, Dana Air's director of operations.
"The plane pushed the
wall of our building in, and it hit everything," said Kingsley Okeke,
who was inside at the time. "There was fire everywhere."
Wason identified the pilot as Peter Waxtan, an American, and the first officer as Mike Mahendra from India.
Waxtan joined Dana Air
on March 26. He was a captain for Spirit Airlines, based in South
Florida, from 1997 to 2009, the airline said. He also flew for Falcon
Air Express, a charter airline in Miami, CNN affiliate WPEC reported.
Sisters Jennifer and
Josephine Onita of Missouri City, Texas, were among those killed in the
crash. They were on their way home after attending a wedding, said their
sister, Christiana Onita-Olojo.
Also among the dead were six Chinese citizens who were on the plane, the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria said Monday.
According to witnesses,
the passenger plane appeared to be approaching the vicinity of the
airport in Lagos high, its nose tilted upward, when it crashed 11 miles
(18 kilometers) north of the runway, hitting the ground tail first.
The flight, which had
originated in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, crashed at 3:43 p.m. in the
neighborhood of Iju Ishaga, according to the Nigerian Civil Aviation
Authority.
The airline, which is privately owned and based in Lagos, began operations in 2008.
source:cnn
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