Nigeria Airways Flight 2120

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Nigeria Airways Flight 2120 was a McDonnell Douglas DC-8-61 C-GMXQ owned by Canadian airline Nationair and chartered by Nigeria Airways to transport Nigerian pilgrims to and from Mecca. On 11 July 1991 the aircraft caught fire and crashed shortly after takeoff from King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, killing all 261 on board, including 14 Canadian aircrew.

The cause of the crash was found to be under-inflated tires, which in turn caused overheated tires to catch fire, and failure of hydraulic systems and eventual in-flight break-up of the aircraft short of making an emergency landing.

As of 2008 it is the deadliest accident involving a DC8 and the deadliest accident involving a Canadian aircraft.

A memorial to the incident is located at the headquarters of Greater Toronto Airports Authority in Toronto, Ontario.

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