 LZ-TUA, sister ship to the aircraft involved | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 16 March 1978 |
| Summary | Cause unknown |
| Site | Gabare, Bulgaria 43°19′39″N 23°52′23″E / 43.32750°N 23.87306°E |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Tupolev Tu-134 |
| Operator | Balkan Bulgarian Airlines |
| ICAO flight No. | LZ 107 |
| Registration | LZ-TUB |
| Flight origin | Sofia Vrazhdebna Airport, Sofia, Bulgaria |
| Destination | Warsaw Airport, Warsaw, Poland |
| Occupants | 73 |
| Passengers | 66 |
| Crew | 7 |
| Fatalities | 73 |
| Survivors | 0 |
Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Flight 107 was an accident that occurred on 16 March 1978, when a Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Tupolev Tu-134 airliner on an international flight from Sofia Airport to Warsaw Airport crashed.[1] All passengers and crew died in the crash. As of 2024, it remains the deadliest accident in Bulgarian aviation history.[1] The exact cause of the crash remains unknown.
A 2024 investigation by "Biograph" journal found witnesses in former communist Committee for State Security (DS) who testified that the aircraft had two unlisted passengers, who were most likely DS-trained agents from Arab countries. The aircraft was most likely hijacked in-flight and crashed as result of onboard fighting, neither of which the communist government was ready to admit.[2][3]
- ^ a b "ASN Aircraft accident Tupolev 134 LZ-TUB Gabare". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
- ^ Bozhkov, Bozhidar (21 April 2024). "Летящият ковчег на Държавна сигурност" [The Flying Coffin of State Security]. Biograph (151).
- ^ "Wyborcza.pl". wyborcza.pl. Retrieved 2 May 2024.