Lagos Plane Crash: The ill-fated plane is over 23 years
The Associated Airlines Embraer 120 plane with registration number 5N-BJY, which crashed in Lagos on Thursday, was manufactured in Brazil in 1990.
The first flight date is unknown, the aircraft, with serial number 174, is more than 23 years old.
The plane has been flown by three US based airlines Britt Airlines, Cont…inental Express and JRM Air LLC according to Airfleets.net. Britt Airlines reportedly bought the plane on March 23, 1990, and marked it in US registration as N51726. Continental Express later bought it on September 1, 1990 and kept it under US registration as N51726.
The plane was later bought by JRM Air LCC which also marked it N 388JR. It the came to Nigeria and was flown for six years in the country by Associated Airlines before Thursday’s accident.
Associated Aviation is an airline based in Ikeja, Lagos State, Nigeria. It was established in 1996 and operates passenger and cargo services within Nigeria and in West Africa. Its main base is Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos
The Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia is a twin-turboprop commuter airliner, produced by Embraer of Brazil. The plane was introduced into the market in October 1985.
Serial production of the aircraft ended in 2001. As at 2007, it was still available for one-off orders, as it shared much of the production equipment with the ERJ-145 family, which is still produced.
The Angolan Air Force, for example, received a new EMB 120 in 2007.
It was produced between 1983 and 2001. A total of 354 units were built.
SkyWest Airlines operates the largest fleet of EMB 120s under the United Express and Delta Connection brand. Great Lakes Airlines operates six EMB 120s in its fleet, and Ameriflight flies eight as freighters.