 5A-DAH, the Boeing 727 involved in the incident, in 1972 | |
| Shootdown | |
|---|---|
| Date | 21 February 1973 |
| Summary | Airliner shootdown |
| Site | Sinai Peninsula 30°20′40″N 32°40′34″E / 30.3444°N 32.6761°E |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 727–224 |
| Operator | Libyan Arab Airlines |
| Registration | 5A-DAH |
| Flight origin | Tripoli International Airport |
| Stopover | Benghazi Airport |
| Destination | Cairo International Airport |
| Occupants | 113 |
| Passengers | 104 |
| Crew | 9 |
| Fatalities | 108 |
| Injuries | 5 |
| Survivors | 5 |
Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 (LN 114) was a regularly scheduled civilian flight from Tripoli to Cairo, through Benghazi, that was shot down in 1973 by Israeli fighter jets after it entered by mistake, due to a system malfunction, the airspace of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula – then under Israeli occupation – resulting in the death of 108 civilians.[1]
On 21 February 1973, the Boeing 727–200 that was serving this flight left Tripoli and flew to Benghazi, for its scheduled stopover. After taking off from Benghazi, it became lost because of a combination of bad weather and equipment failure over Northern Egypt. Unknowingly, its pilot, a French citizen, entered Israeli controlled airspace over the Sinai Peninsula, where it was intercepted by two Israeli F-4 Phantom IIs; once the pilot had reversed course and the plane was already on its way out of the Sinai,[1] it was shot down by the Israeli fighter pilots after they did not receive a response to their demands for the aircraft to land. Of the 113 people on board, there were five survivors, including the co-pilot, as 108 civilians were killed in the incident.
The downing of the civilian plane earned unanimous international criticism: both the Soviet Union and the United States condemned the incident, not accepting the reasoning given by Israel;[2]: 290 all member-nations of the International Civil Aviation Organization voted to censure Israel for the attack. Israel's Defense Minister, Moshe Dayan, called it an "error of judgment", and Israel paid compensation to the victims' families.[3][1]
- ^ a b c Lozowick, Yaacov (18 March 2023). "When Israel Shot Down a Libyan Passenger Plane, but Refused to Take Responsibility". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 18 March 2023. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
MLR85was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Gero, David (2006). Aviation Disasters: The World's Major Civil Airliner Crashes Since 1940 (4th ed.). Sparkford, UK: Patrick Stephens Limited. pp. 116–117. ISBN 0-7509-3146-9. OCLC 51000403.