Investigation Summary
The disaster was rooted in a critical maintenance failure compounded by commercial pressure. On July 7, four days before the crash, tire pressures on the #2 and #4 wheels were found to be significantly below the minimum dispatch requirements. Nitrogen to inflate them was not readily available, and a project manager, prioritizing the flight schedule, ordered the aircraft to depart without servicing the tires. During the taxi and takeoff roll on July 11, the under-inflated #2 tire suffered excessive heat buildup. This caused a load transfer to the #1 tire, which also failed. The friction generated enough heat to ignite the tire rubber. When the crew retracted the landing gear, they inadvertently brought the fire into the wheel well, where it was shielded from the slipstream and fed by hydraulic fluid. The fire eventually burned through the cabin floor and severed flight control cables.
Final Conclusions
The primary cause was the operation of the aircraft with under-inflated tires, leading to a tire fire during takeoff. Contributing factors included the project manager's decision to prioritize the schedule over safety, the failure of maintenance staff to countermand that decision, and the lack of tire pressure monitoring systems on the DC-8. The fire's location in the wheel well meant there were no fire detection sensors to alert the crew until the damage was catastrophic.
Video Analysis
The Crash of Nigeria Airways Flight 2120 — An analysis of the 1991 DC-8 crash in Jeddah caused by under-inflated tires catching fire during takeoff. The video examines maintenance failures and the catastrophic in-flight fire that led to the loss of 261 lives.
Watch on YouTube ↗If playback is blocked, the owner has disabled embedding — use the link above.
Systems & Failure Modes
Main Landing Gear
The source of the fire; under-inflated tires overheated due to friction during the high-speed takeoff roll.
Hydraulic System
Fire in the wheel well burned through hydraulic lines, leading to a loss of flight control surface effectiveness.
Wheel Well Fire Protection
The DC-8 lacked fire detection or extinguishing systems in the wheel wells, preventing early warning.
Interesting Facts
- 01It remains the deadliest accident involving a Douglas DC-8.
- 02The aircraft was wet-leased from Nationair Canada to Nigeria Airways for Hajj pilgrimage flights.
- 03Maintenance records were found to have been altered to hide the low tire pressure readings.
- 04The fire was so intense that bodies began falling from the aircraft when the gear was extended for landing because the floor had burned through.
- 05The captain mistakenly used the callsign 'Nationair' instead of 'Nigerian', causing confusion with Air Traffic Control.