Libya Arab Airlines flight 114--21 February 1973

Database of terrorist attacks and related events--Johnston's Archive

Libya Arab Airlines flight 114--21 February 1973

compiled by Wm. Robert Johnston
last modified 2 December 2017

Date: 21 February 1973

Location: Isma'iliya, Sinai, Egypt

Type of event: accident

Description:

A Libyan airliner en route from Benghazi, Libya to Cairo, Egypt erroneously flew over Israeli-controlled Sinai territory due to navigational failures and loss of visual references in a sandstorm. Israel scrambled two Phantom fighters which attempted to contact the airliner to order it to land at an Israeli air base. The pilots did not understand the instructions and believed the fighters were Egyptian. The Israeli aircraft fired on the airliner, damaging its control systems leading to a crash landing.

Consequences: 108 killed, 5 injured

References:

"Accident Database," PlaneCrashInfo.com, on line [http://www.planecrashinfo.com/database.htm].
Omer-Man, Michael, 25 Feb. 2011, "This week in history: IAF shoots down Libyan flight 114," Jerusalem Post, on line [https://www.jpost.com/Features/In-Thespotlight/This-Week-in-History-IAF-shoots-down-Libyan-Flight-114].

© 2017 by Wm. Robert Johnston.
Last modified 2 December 2017.
Return to Home. Return to Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Unconventional Warfare.