Talk:2003 Baghdad DHL attempted shootdown incident

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Contents

[edit] Ambiguous transition

The following transition between paragraphs is vague and needs further explanation.

The next problem was when they could not land back at the airport, because they were too high in the air. If they attempted to make a steep descent, the plane would crash. The situation was compounded by leaking fuel from one of the tanks and the fire on the left wing.

Finally, the pilots managed to land the plane back at the airport.

...How did they do that if they couldn't descend?

--Mrohrer 2:23, 1 September 2006

Captain Gennotte remembered seeing a broadcast about United Flt 232 (that DC-10 that crashed at Sioux City, Iowa, 1989) and that the pilot had used throttles to control the aircraft. By using differential thrust, the crew were able to gingerly control the airplane. On first approach they were too high, so they were able to turn around and go on their extended 12 mile downwind, and then come back and land safely. I was there and saw the entire thing. My hat is off to the crew for remaining calm under such extreme circumstances, landing safely, and saving themselves and the airplane.

--Hawker 09:01, 14 March 2007

[edit] Paragraph needs clarification, expansion

I didn't understand this sentence, so I removed it until someone with more expertise about this incident can clarify it:

They(the pilots?) turned (the plane?), whilst being videotaped by a French journalist, who saw the missile being fired, and American Apache helicopters (in the area?).

--Guroadrunner 10:43, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Journalist

Some French journalists who had videotaped the whole incident later came under criticism for not trying to stop the attack, but the journalists argued that they would have been shot if they attempted to leave or resist.

Did anyone really expect the journalists to stop insurgents with missiles? Nil Einne 10:36, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Flight number

Can anyone locate a flight number? This article should be entitled [[DHL Flight xxx]]. —Joseph/N328KF (Talk) 20:32, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

My understanding is that there was no flight number because of the nature of the flight; any flight originating from Baghdad isn't exactly going into congested airspace where every flight needs a flight number, is it? So Iraq doesn't require them, which means DHL didn't bother with one. If, however, you have any good ideas for a better title, we really could do with better than this. Blood Red Sandman Open Up Your Heart - Receive My EviLove 17:39, 5 January 2007 (UTC)


I was there for this entire event and the Tower (run by Australians at that time) simply called out "Oscar Oscar Delta Lima Lima." There was no flight number that was being used.

Hawker 09:00, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Deleted unsourced remark about who fired the missle

An anonymous user had edited the page so that it read "...a SA-14 ground-to-air missile, fired by Islamofascists, struck the Airbus..." I deleted the italicized words.

For the sake of discussion, let's assume that the author of that edit intended the word "Islamofascists" to be descriptive rather than inflammatory. As far as I can tell, no one knows who fired the missle, so it is impossible to know their motivation, and whether they felt they were acting in the name of Islam. The attackers' motives might have been secular, or they might have been merely nihilist vandals.

Brianriceca 08:03, 7 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Awards to the Crews

I refer to the sentence "The crew has been given some of the highest awards the aviation community had to offer.", which was deleted due to uncited source. On one of the documentary on National Geographic which covered the whole incident, the crew was indeed awarded top aviation awards and have photos on it.

ADouBTor 21:43, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

Sources added Feb/08 Interactbiz (talk) 21:49, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Shootdown?

Why is this article titled a "shootdown" incident if the aircraft landed safely? Socrates2008 05:42, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

attempted shootdown? --122.104.43.23 (talk) 12:52, 23 November 2007 (UTC)
Title again : 2003_Baghdad_DHL_attempted_shootdown_incident is extremely confusing. Is the 'incident' DHL-attempted (by DHL)? Was a missile fired down from a DHL plane? I would suggest 2003_Baghdad_missile_attack_on_DHL_plane . —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.95.200.104 (talk) 17:39, 8 December 2007 (UTC)
Agree Socrates2008 (talk) 23:37, 8 December 2007 (UTC)
This is getting out of hand. To keep it in line with the semi-informal naming style for disasters and near-disasters, how about simply 2003 Baghdad DHL A300 incident? AKRadeckiSpeaketh 23:56, 8 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Written-off or Repaired?

According to Airfleets.net the plane was destroyed, while the Wiki article says it was repaired. Which is correct? Socrates2008 (talk) 11:01, 8 December 2007 (UTC)

The latest Google Earth coverage shows the plane sitting where it was last moved, that I know of anyway, at 33 15'28.64N 44 13'50.06E Traumatic (talk) 19:58, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

The website would be the prefered answer as informations on wiki has to be proven true by linking to primary information sources (Eg: NTSB). If there's no verification of the information's source(s)in wiki, then one should not take belief on it.ADouBTor (talk) 06:11, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Flight engineer?

Just being curious, but why would a modern aircraft such as an A300 have a flight engineer on board? --DrFod (talk) 21:03, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

This aircraft was over 30 years old so would have been built with a 3 person flight deck. Perhaps the Iraqi incident demonstrates that a 3 flightcrew aircraft is safer during emergencies. Interactbiz (talk) 21:45, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Criticism of DHL?

A person wrote, without attribution, that people criticized DHL for exposing employees to danger without additional pay. I can find no confirmation that criticism, if made, was widespread and from credible sources. It is hard to give weight to the statement because this experienced aircrew would have known historic risks of entering a conflict zone. Whether they were or were not offered danger pay seems irrelevant. Accordingly, I removed this wording: “DHL came under criticism for ordering crew members into Iraq without any additional danger pay.” Interactbiz (talk) 08:26, 26 February 2008 (UTC)