Bellview crashed after take off ???
Thats what CNN is reporting - no further news as of yet:
Nigerian jet missing after takeoff
From CNN Africa Correspondent Jeff Koinange
Sunday, October 23, 2005; Posted: 3:55 a.m. EDT (07:55 GMT)
A number of high-level Nigerian officials are believed to have been on board.WATCH Browse/Search
Nigerian airliner missing (2:37)
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Manage Alerts | What Is This? LAGOS, Nigeria (CNN) -- A passenger jet with 114 people on board disappeared from radar shortly after taking off from the commercial capital of Lagos, and Nigerian authorities say the plane had gone down.
The Boeing 737 left Murtala Muhammed airport at 7 p.m. (2 p.m. ET) Saturday and was en route to Nigeria's capital, Abuja -- a trip that should have taken about 50 minutes.
The pilot of Flight 210 issued a distress call just before the control tower lost sight of the plane about three minutes after takeoff, officials said.
Several high-level Nigerian officials were believed to be on board the privately-owned Bellview Airlines jet, the office of President Olusegun Obasanjo told CNN. They were headed to Abuja for a meeting.
The Nigerian airline is popular with expatriates living in the West African nation and Western diplomats feared several their citizens could have been on board, according to Reuters news agency.
The airline has been operating for about 10 years and has no record of any incidents.
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria said two helicopters had been scrambled to search for the plane.
Relatives of those on board have also chartered a helicopter to look for the plane, while teams have been dispatched to search on land and in the water.
A statement from Bellview Airlines, read on Nigerian television, said the airline was "not able to confirm the whereabouts of the aircraft."
The twin-engine plane had a capacity of 120 people, but there were 114 on board, 108 passengers and 6 crew.
A storm was passing through Lagos about the time the flight left, according to CNN's Jeff Koinange.
There were widespread rains and thunderstorms around the southwestern corner of Nigeria, particularly near Lagos to Ibadan, said CNN's meteorologist Mari Ramos.
Flights leaving Lagos fly out over the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean, before turning back to reach Abuja, according to Koinange, so it is likely helicopters will be searching the Atlantic coast.
If the plane did crash, Boeing spokeswoman Liz Verdie said they would work with the U.S. National Transportation Safety if invited to do so.
The normally bustling airport in Lagos was quiet on Sunday morning as coordination efforts were underway to find the plane, Koinange said