The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) has identified poor condition of navigational aids and weather equipment at Benin airport as some of the contributory factors to the Enugu Air accident at the airport.

The report also mentioned an obstruction limiting the control tower’s view of part of the runway as another major reason for the accident.

These were contained in a preliminary report on the accident, involving the runway excursion of Embraer ERJ 170 aircraft with the registration number: 5N-ENR, which occurred on July 23, 2026.

The accident had occurred when the aircraft was landing on Runway 05 with 68 persons onboard, but without major injuries.

The aircraft suffered substantial damage to its engines.

According to the preliminary report, some critical navigational and meteorological facilities at the airport were unserviceable on the day of the occurrence.

The NSIB said that the 116.5 MHz “BEN” VOR/DME was unserviceable, while the 109.7 MHz “IBE” ILS/DME also remained serviceable.

It added that the aerodrome beacon and weather information display system were also unserviceable.

The investigators further identified an uncompleted building structure beyond the end of Runway 05, around the Runway 23 threshold end, which obstructed the control tower’s line of sight to that portion of the aerodrome.

The report said in part: “The status of the navigational aids at DNBE on the day of the occurrence was as follows: 116.5 MHz “BEN” VOR/DME – unserviceable, 109.7 MHz “IBE” ILS/DME – serviceable, Aerodrome Beacon – unserviceable, weather display system – unserviceable.

“An uncompleted building structure located beyond the end of Runway 05 (Runway 23 threshold end) obstructs the control tower’s line of sight to that part of the aerodrome.”

However, the NSIB in its safety recommendations, told the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to ensure that the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) remove fixed structures belonging to a decommissioned localiser installation located at the end of Runway 05.

The bureau also recommended that the control tower be positioned to provide an unrestricted view of all movement areas at the aerodrome.

Also, the NCAA was also told to ensure that FAAN provided a suitable control tower location for the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) to guarantee unrestricted visibility of all movement areas.

For the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), it was also asked to restore and maintain the weather information display equipment provided for operational use at the Benin control tower and ensure that current meteorological information was reliably available to air traffic services for timely transmission to flight crews.

The report further showed that weather conditions deteriorated during the aircraft’s arrival.

The Air Traffic Control (ATC) Watch Log recorded a special weather report at 1337 UTC, showing visibility of 1,600 metres in moderate rain, with broken cloud at 240 metres.

However, the Air Traffic Operations Manager’s report indicated that the 1300 UTC METAR was the only meteorological report made available to the designated air traffic controller up to the time of the occurrence.

The investigation also found no evidence in the ATC communications reviewed that a Runway Condition Report (RCR) or Runway Condition Code (RWYCC) had been transmitted to the flight crew.

The report stated that ATC had advised the crew that the approach path to Runway 23 appeared better than that to Runway 05.

Despite the advice, the crew accepted the information and continued with the RNAV approach to Runway 05.

However, during the runway excursion, the aircraft struck seven approach-lighting installations and subsequently impacted two fixed concrete structures associated with a decommissioned localiser installation situated beyond the runway end, the report said.

The impact with the concrete structures caused the aircraft’s landing gear assemblies to break away.

It added that this led to the nose landing gear separating first, followed by the right main landing gear and subsequently the left main landing gear.

The aircraft eventually stopped about 325 metres beyond the end of Runway 05.