=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/n/a/2005/12/18/internatio= nal/i194136S47.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday, December 18, 2005 (AP) Nigeria Aircraft Check Strands Thousands By DULUE MBACHU, Associated Press Writer (12-18) 19:41 PST LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) -- Nigeria grounded Boeing 737 planes across the country for safety checks, stranding thousands of travelers Sunday after two deadly accidents in two months. All Boeing 737-100 and 200 series will be checked for stress cracks, in compliance with a U.S. air-worthiness directive, Folasade Odutola, head of the aviation panel overseeing the checks, said late Saturday. The ruling by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration required all such models of aircraft to be inspected within 90 days of its August 2000 ruling. Many countries follow FAA directives. The Nigerian official did not explain why the measure was only being implemented now. Thousands of passengers in Lagos, Nigeria's largest city and Abuja, the capital, could be seen waiting in departure lounges. In Lagos, thousands of disappointed passengers going home for the Christmas holidays sought other ways to travel. "I have no choice now but to go by road," said Nobert Nchekwube, a passenger who said he was bound for Enugu, 430 miles east of Lagos. President Olusegun Obasanjo had promised to overhaul Nigeria's airline industry after two major plane crashes in seven weeks killed 224 people, blaming some of the industry's problems on corruption. On Dec. 10, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 plane operated by Sosoliso Airlines crashed while approaching Port Harcourt, killing 107 people, most of them school children going home for Christmas. A Boeing 737-200 plane belonging to Bellview airlines crashed soon after takeoff from Lagos on Oct. 22, killing all 117 on board. The causes of the crashes have not been determined. Obasanjo last week ordered a halt to flights by Sosoliso and another airline, Chanchangi. ------------------------------------------------------= ---------------- Copyright 2005 AP