Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114
Encyclopedia
Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 was a regularly scheduled flight from Tripoli
to Cairo
via Benghazi
shot down by Israeli fighter jets in 1973.
At 10:30 on February 21, 1973, the 727-224
left Tripoli, but became lost due to a combination of bad weather and equipment failure over northern Egypt around 13:44 (1:44 P.M. local). It entered the then-Israel
i-controlled airspace over the Sinai Peninsula
, was intercepted by two Israeli F-4 Phantom II
s and shot down, after refusing to land, with most of the people on board killed. Of the 113 people on board, there were 5 survivors, including the co-pilot.
and Libyan Arab Airlines
. After a brief stop at Benghazi
in eastern Libya
, Flight 114 continued en route to Cairo with 113 people on board.
As the airliner cruised high over northern Egypt
, a large sandstorm below forced the crew to rely completely on instrument navigation. A short time later, around 13:44, the pilot began to suspect that he had made a navigational error because of a compass malfunction: he could not find an air traffic beacon
, and could not ascertain the plane's current location. He did not report his worries to the Cairo air control tower. Instead, at 13:52 he received permission from Cairo to begin his descent. By now pushed by strong tailwinds, the aircraft had drifted east considerably, and was flying over the Suez canal
. Sinai had been occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War
.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) were on high alert; Israel
was in a state of war with Egypt at the time, and thought it suspicious that no Egyptian missiles had been fired at the plane, nor MiG
s scrambled to intercept it, despite a similar incident a month earlier, in which an Ethiopia
n plane had been shot down.
At 13:54, Flight 114 entered airspace over the Sinai desert, cruising at 20,000 feet. Two minutes later, two Israeli Air Force
F-4 fighters were scrambled to investigate and intercepted the airliner at 13:59. The Israeli fighter pilots attempted to make visual contact with the passenger airliner's crew, and tried to communicate to them by signaling with their hands, dipping their wings and finally firing warning shots, that they should follow the F-4s back to Rephidim Air Base. The 727 crew's response was interpreted as a denial of that request. The 727 turned back to the west, but the Israeli pilots interpreted this as an attempt to flee.
The Israeli F-4 pilots fired bursts of 20mm cannon fire with the F-4's cannon
. The 20mm shells severely damaged control surfaces, hydraulic systems, and the wing structure itself. Flight 114 crashed while attempting an emergency landing
in an area covered with sand dunes. Following an explosion near the right main landing gear during the crash, 108 of the 113 people aboard were killed.
.
The Israeli government also revealed that LN 114 had been shot down with the personal authorization of David Elazar
, the Israeli Chief of Staff. Israel's argument was that given the heightened security situation and the erratic behavior of the jet's crew, the actions taken were prudent. The United Nations
did not take any action against Israel. The 30 member nations of the International Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO) voted to censure Israel for the attack. The United States did not accept the reasoning given by Israel, and condemned the incident.
Israel's Defense Minister Moshe Dayan
called it an "error of judgement", and Israel paid compensation to the victims' families.
Tripoli
Tripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Western Tripoli , to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean , describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means "Three...
to Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
via Benghazi
Benghazi
Benghazi is the second largest city in Libya, the main city of the Cyrenaica region , and the former provisional capital of the National Transitional Council. The wider metropolitan area is also a district of Libya...
shot down by Israeli fighter jets in 1973.
At 10:30 on February 21, 1973, the 727-224
Boeing 727
The Boeing 727 is a mid-size, narrow-body, three-engine, T-tailed commercial jet airliner, manufactured by Boeing. The Boeing 727 first flew in 1963, and for over a decade more were built per year than any other jet airliner. When production ended in 1984 a total of 1,832 aircraft had been produced...
left Tripoli, but became lost due to a combination of bad weather and equipment failure over northern Egypt around 13:44 (1:44 P.M. local). It entered the then-Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i-controlled airspace over the Sinai Peninsula
Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai is a triangular peninsula in Egypt about in area. It is situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Red Sea to the south, and is the only part of Egyptian territory located in Asia as opposed to Africa, effectively serving as a land bridge between two...
, was intercepted by two Israeli F-4 Phantom II
F-4 Phantom II
The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a tandem two-seat, twin-engined, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor fighter/fighter-bomber originally developed for the United States Navy by McDonnell Aircraft. It first entered service in 1960 with the U.S. Navy. Proving highly adaptable,...
s and shot down, after refusing to land, with most of the people on board killed. Of the 113 people on board, there were 5 survivors, including the co-pilot.
Account
The aircraft was piloted by a mostly French crew (captain and flight engineer; the co-pilot was Libyan) under a contractual arrangement between Air FranceAir France
Air France , stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the French flag carrier headquartered in Tremblay-en-France, , and is one of the world's largest airlines. It is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance...
and Libyan Arab Airlines
Libyan Arab Airlines
Libyan Airlines , known as Libyan Arab Airlines over several decades, is the national flag carrier airline of Libya. Based in Tripoli, it operates scheduled passenger and cargo services within Libya and to Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, the majority of which leave from Tripoli...
. After a brief stop at Benghazi
Benghazi
Benghazi is the second largest city in Libya, the main city of the Cyrenaica region , and the former provisional capital of the National Transitional Council. The wider metropolitan area is also a district of Libya...
in eastern Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, Flight 114 continued en route to Cairo with 113 people on board.
As the airliner cruised high over northern Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, a large sandstorm below forced the crew to rely completely on instrument navigation. A short time later, around 13:44, the pilot began to suspect that he had made a navigational error because of a compass malfunction: he could not find an air traffic beacon
Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System
The air traffic control radar beacon system is a system used in air traffic control to enhance surveillance radar monitoring and separation of air traffic. ATCRBS assists ATC surveillance radars by acquiring information about the aircraft being monitored, and providing this information to the...
, and could not ascertain the plane's current location. He did not report his worries to the Cairo air control tower. Instead, at 13:52 he received permission from Cairo to begin his descent. By now pushed by strong tailwinds, the aircraft had drifted east considerably, and was flying over the Suez canal
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...
. Sinai had been occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) were on high alert; Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
was in a state of war with Egypt at the time, and thought it suspicious that no Egyptian missiles had been fired at the plane, nor MiG
Mig
-Industry:*MiG, now Mikoyan, a Russian aircraft corporation, formerly the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau*Metal inert gas welding or MIG welding, a type of welding using an electric arc and a shielding gas-Business and finance:...
s scrambled to intercept it, despite a similar incident a month earlier, in which an Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
n plane had been shot down.
At 13:54, Flight 114 entered airspace over the Sinai desert, cruising at 20,000 feet. Two minutes later, two Israeli Air Force
Israeli Air Force
The Israeli Air Force is the air force of the State of Israel and the aerial arm of the Israel Defense Forces. It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Independence...
F-4 fighters were scrambled to investigate and intercepted the airliner at 13:59. The Israeli fighter pilots attempted to make visual contact with the passenger airliner's crew, and tried to communicate to them by signaling with their hands, dipping their wings and finally firing warning shots, that they should follow the F-4s back to Rephidim Air Base. The 727 crew's response was interpreted as a denial of that request. The 727 turned back to the west, but the Israeli pilots interpreted this as an attempt to flee.
The Israeli F-4 pilots fired bursts of 20mm cannon fire with the F-4's cannon
M61 Vulcan
The M61 Vulcan is a hydraulically or pneumatically driven, six-barreled, air-cooled, electrically fired Gatling-style rotary cannon which fires 20 mm rounds at an extremely high rate. The M61 and its derivatives have been the principal cannon armament of United States military fixed-wing aircraft...
. The 20mm shells severely damaged control surfaces, hydraulic systems, and the wing structure itself. Flight 114 crashed while attempting an emergency landing
Emergency landing
An emergency landing is a landing made by an aircraft in response to a crisis which either interferes with the operation of the aircraft or involves sudden medical emergencies necessitating diversion to the nearest airport.-Types of emergency landings:...
in an area covered with sand dunes. Following an explosion near the right main landing gear during the crash, 108 of the 113 people aboard were killed.
Aftermath
The copilot, who survived, later said that the flight crew knew the Israeli jets wanted them to land but relations between Israel and Libya then made them decide against following instructions. The Libyan government stated that the attack occurred without warning despite what the copilot said. After government denials, Israel's air force claimed that Flight 114 was a security threat, and that among the possible tasks it could have been undertaking was an aerial spy mission over the Israeli air base at Bir GifgafaBir Gifgafa Airfield
Bir Gifgafa is an airfield in the Sinai, 90 km east of the Suez Canal. During the 1960s and 1970s it played a significant role in Arab-Israeli wars, at different times serving both Egypt and Israel....
.
The Israeli government also revealed that LN 114 had been shot down with the personal authorization of David Elazar
David Elazar
David "Dado" Elazar was the ninth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, serving in that capacity from 1972 to 1974. He was forced to resign in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War.-Early life:...
, the Israeli Chief of Staff. Israel's argument was that given the heightened security situation and the erratic behavior of the jet's crew, the actions taken were prudent. The United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
did not take any action against Israel. The 30 member nations of the International Civil Aviation Organization
International Civil Aviation Organization
The International Civil Aviation Organization , pronounced , , is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It codifies the principles and techniques of international air navigation and fosters the planning and development of international air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth...
(ICAO) voted to censure Israel for the attack. The United States did not accept the reasoning given by Israel, and condemned the incident.
Israel's Defense Minister Moshe Dayan
Moshe Dayan
Moshe Dayan was an Israeli military leader and politician. The fourth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces , he became a fighting symbol to the world of the new State of Israel...
called it an "error of judgement", and Israel paid compensation to the victims' families.
See also
- List of airliner shootdown incidents for similar occurrences resulting in an airliner being shot down.
- Korean Air Lines Flight 007