UTA Flight 772
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| Summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | September 19, 1989 |
| Type | Terrorist Bomb |
| Site | Sahara Desert |
| Fatalities | 171 |
| Injuries | 0 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 |
| Operator | Union des Transports Aériens (UTA) |
| Tail number | N54629 |
| Passengers | 156 |
| Crew | 15 |
| Survivors | 0 |
Union des Transports Aériens Flight 772 was a flight of a French airline which was scheduled to fly from the former Congo-Brazzaville, to N'Djamena in Chad, and then to Charles De Gaulle International Airport near Paris.
On September 19, 1989, N54629, the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 on the route, broke up over the Sahara Desert near the town of Bilma and the town of Ténéré, Niger, when a bomb in the forward cargo hold exploded. A total of 171 people on board were killed, leaving no survivors.
Abdullah Sanussi, the brother-in-law of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and five other Libyans were put on trial in absentia for the bombing of UTA Flight 772. In 2003, Libya admitted responsibility and agreed to pay compensation to the families of the victims.
The motive is usually assumed to be of revenge on the French for supporting Chad against the expansionist projects of Libya toward Chad. This support was considered as neo-colonialist by Libya.
A similar attack on Pan Am Flight 103 the year before is assumed to be a revenge for the US Bombing of Tripoli in April 1986.
[edit] Popular references
- The song Le grand frère by French artist Adb al-Malik is about one of the victims of flight UT772
[edit] External links
[edit] See also
- List of accidents and incidents on commercial airliners
- Pan Am Flight 103
- Alternative theories into the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103
