Nigeria grounds passenger jets for safety checks

Authorities have grounded Boeing 737 planes across Nigeria for spot safety checks, stranding thousands of travellers today around Africa’s most populous nation after two deadly accidents in two months.

All Boeing 737-100 and 200 series aircraft in Nigeria will be checked for stress cracks, in compliance with a US air-worthiness directive, Folasade Odutola, head of a special aviation panel overseeing the checks, said in a statement.