Related: Passenger plane missing in Nigeria

Airliner with 114 aboard crashes in Nigeria

    LAGOS, Oct. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- Pilots of a missing Nigerian passenger plane with 114 people on board made a distress call minutes after take-off from Lagos late Saturday, state television reported on Sunday.

    The pilots issued a distress call before the plane disappeared from radar about 24 km west of Lagos over the Atlantic Ocean, the report said.

    The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) said the missing airliner heading for the Nigerian capital Abuja was operated by Bellview Airlines, one of leading local airlines.

    FAAN spokesman Adamu Abdullahi said that they were trying to locate the aircraft after it lost contact with the control tower minutes after taking off for the capital Abuja.

    "Two police helicopters are looking for it," he said.

    However, police helicopters searched in vain for the plane when it disappeared from radar shortly after taking off, the official said.

    According to a Bellview official, the missing plane "took off at 8:45 (1945 GMT) and lost contact."

    The Bellview official added that there had been no sightings ofthe plane since then.

    On its Web site, CNN news said Nigerian aviation authorities had confirmed that the plane had crashed.

    The missing airliner is a Boeing 737 which normally carries about 110 passengers. The Lagos-Abuja is the busiest shuttle routein the west African country as Lagos is the commercial capital of the country and Abuja, the nation's capital. Enditem ¡¡