By: HISTORY.com Editors

2002

Nigerian aircraft crashes in crowded city

Published: November 13, 2009Last Updated: May 27, 2025

On May 4, 2002, an EAS Airline plane crashes into the town of Kano, Nigeria, killing 149 people. The Nigerian BAC 1-11-500 aircraft exploded in a densely populated section of the northern Nigerian city.

The Executive Airline Services twin-engine plane took off from Kano at about 1:30 p.m. with 77 people on board headed for Lagos. Witnesses on the ground saw that the plane immediately showed signs of distress before plunging toward the ground. It then ripped through a working-class neighborhood, shearing off the roofs of dozens of homes and a couple of mosques. About three full blocks of structures were destroyed.

Many of the victims on the ground were burned to death in the fiery explosion. Six passengers on the plane did manage to survive. One, Najib Ibrahim, said, "I thought I had no chance. I was surrounded by fire. I was lucky because I was sitting near the exit door."

Just prior to the crash, Nigerian authorities had voiced concern about the use of old aircraft by the many private carriers operating in the country and had announced a ban on planes older than 22 years. However, the British Aircraft plane that crashed in Kano was not an old airplane. A later investigation ruled the cause of the crash to be pilot error.

7 of the Most Devastating US Plane Crashes

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Timeline

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Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on May 4th

1776

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1865

President Lincoln is buried in Springfield, Illinois

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1886

The Haymarket Square Riot

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1904

U.S. officially acquires Panama Canal, takes over construction

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1916

Germany agrees to limit its submarine warfare

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1924

Paris hosts its second Olympic Games

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1929

Legendary actress Audrey Hepburn is born

On May 4, 1929, Edda van Heemstra Hepburn-Ruston—who will one day be better known to legions of film fans as Audrey Hepburn—is born near Brussels, Belgium. The daughter of an English banker and a Dutch baroness, Hepburn was attending school in London when World War II erupted in Europe. During the war, the Nazis occupied […]

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1948

Norman Mailer’s first novel, “The Naked and the Dead,” is published

Twenty-five-year-old Norman Mailer’s first novel, The Naked and the Dead, is published on May 4, 1948. The book is critically acclaimed and widely considered one of the best novels to come out of World War II. Mailer was born in New Jersey in 1923 and raised in Brooklyn. He attended Harvard and joined the Army […]

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1956

Gene Vincent records “Be-Bop-A-Lula”

On May 4, 1956, rockabilly legend Gene Vincent records the smoldering early-rock classic “Be-Bop-A-Lula,” in Nashville, Tennessee. When a music critic wants to indicate that a song lacks lyrical sophistication, he or she will often refer to its lyrics as being of the “moon in June” sort. It’s a label left over from the Tin […]

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1959

Ella Fitzgerald becomes first Black woman to win a Grammy Award

“First Lady of Song” Ella Fitzgerald becomes the first Black woman to win a Grammy at the Recording Academy’s inaugural awards show on May 4, 1959. During the event at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, Fitzgerald took home two of 28 awards for best jazz and female vocal performances. “Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving […]

1961

The first Freedom Ride departs from Washington, D.C.

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1966

Willie Mays breaks National League home run record

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1970

National Guard kills four students in Kent State shootings

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1979

Margaret Thatcher becomes Britain’s first female prime minister

Margaret Thatcher, leader of the Conservative Party, becomes Britain’s first female prime minister on May 4, 1979. The Oxford-educated chemist and lawyer took office the day after the Conservatives won a 44-seat majority in general parliamentary elections. Margaret Hilda Roberts was born in Grantham, England, in 1925. She was the first woman president of the […]

1990

Electric chair malfunctions in Florida, leading states to change execution methods

Jesse Tafero is executed in Florida after his electric chair malfunctions three times, causing flames to leap from his head. Tafero’s death led to a new debate on humane methods of execution. Several states ceased use of the electric chair and adopted lethal injection as their means of capital punishment. As the 20th century came […]

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1994

A lawmaker introduces the pun “May the Fourth be with you” on the floor of U.K. Parliament

On May 4, 1994, in a groan-inducing moment on the floor of U.K. Parliament, a lawmaker uses a pun that will spawn its own holiday far, far away from the halls of government. “May the 4th is an appropriate date for a defense debate. My researcher, who is a bit of a wit, said that […]

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1994

Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat sign accord for Palestinian self-rule

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