THE airline tragedy in Nigeria has shown, among other things, how dangerous it is in some cases for ordinary mortals to be right when high officials are wrong. The government has banned a private TV and radio station which got the facts about the location and devastation of the crash right — while the authorities were getting them entirely wrong.

The details are sadly simple. A Boeing 737 with 117 passengers and crew took off from Lagos in Nigeria on Sunday on a scheduled flight to Abuja, the capital. The aircraft, owned by the private company, Bellview Airlines, flew into a vicious tropical storm and, for reasons yet to be determined, crashed causing the deaths of all on board. Almost immediately the authorities announced the crash site was 245 miles north of Lagos and a local official reported that at least half the passengers had survived.

In fact the crash site was only 30 miles from Lagos and everyone was dead. The independent TV and radio station, AIT, proved this by getting journalists and a camera crew to the site while officials and emergency services were reportedly rushing off in the wrong location. In the wake of this humiliation for the authorities, the Nigerian National Broadcasting Commission suspended AIT’s broadcasting license. It accused Nigerian outlets in general of causing “confusion” in the international media through their reporting and AIT in particular of breaching reporting standards in its filming of dismembered bodies at the crash site. It is true that the commission realized the mistake soon and released a second statement “sequel to the interventions of many well-meaning Nigerians” permitting the outlet to recommence broadcasting but warning “stations to be fully aware of their social responsibilities.” However, the principle remains. Questionable taste does not constitute grounds for taking a broadcaster off the air. Such errors, if substantiated, are normally a matter simply of fines and perhaps obligatory apologies.

Nigeria has long had a vibrant and exciting press and its ebullience and enthusiasm have also flowed into broadcasting. If a TV station shows its viewers gory pictures of a disastrous plane crash, which the authorities insist — against all accurate information — took place 200 miles from where it did and in which they maintain there are many survivors, then that TV station can be said to be doing its job. In contrast, the authorities, persuaded by as yet undetermined factors and looking in entirely the wrong place, were not doing theirs. Deeply embarrassing mistakes like this do occur, even in the most sophisticated societies. Unless there was a sinister necessity to divert attention from the real crash site, which is surely unlikely, the best official response would have been to admit the error and thank the TV station for helping them correct the mistake. To crack down on the broadcasters in so draconian a manner, even for questionable judgment in showing grisly footage, ill befits Africa’s leading state. Instead of punishing AIT for getting it right, maybe some officials need reprimanding for getting it wrong.