Embraer 120 crashes on take-off at Lagos. 14 dead.

A Nigerian chartered aircraft has crashed at Murtala Mohammed airport in Lagos killing at least 14 people.
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According to reports the Embraer 120 'Brasilia' turboprop – operated by Associated Aviation – suffered a suspected engine failure on take off and crashed into the ground close to the airport’s fuel farm within the airport boundaries.

The flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder have both been recovered from the wreckage according to Yakubu Dati, a spokesman for the federal airport authority.

The aircraft had left the domestic terminal bound for Akure, in Western Nigeria, 140 miles from Lagos. The manifest showed there were 20 people on board - 13 passengers and seven crew. Officials said six people survived the crash and were taken to hospital with serious injuries. A seventh person remained unaccounted for but was feared dead. It is not known yet how serious the condition of the six injured people is.

The aircraft burst into flames after hitting the ground.

Nigeria has been restoring confidence in its air transport system since the Dana Air tragedy in 2012 when 150 people died. There have been major changes to the country’s civil aviation authority and all airlines had to re-capitalise or be grounded, in an effort to ensure better safety. This is the eighth major air crash in the past 11 years.

Associated Aviation has been operating since 1996 from its main base at Lagos. It operates a growing fleet of Embraer aircraft.