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 73 passengers and crew died in the crash (66 passengers and a crew of 7). As of 2024, it remains the deadliest accident in Bulgarian aviation history.[1] The exact cause of the crash remains unknown.
 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 |
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]
Aircraft
editThe aircraft Tupolev Tu-134, tail number LZ-TUB, was produced in 1968 by the Kharkiv State Aircraft Manufacturing Company. It belonged to Balkan Bulgarian Airlines, and had 72 passenger seats and room for seven crew.[4] The flight in question was piloted by Captain Hristo Hristov.[5]
Accident
editOn departure from Sofia, flight LZ 107 began to climb to 8,850 metres (29,040 ft) but at 4,900 metres (16,100 ft), it turned on a heading of 050 degrees. It turned again to 270 degrees before it began an abnormal descent. The aircraft crashed 10 minutes from takeoff near the village of Gabare, close to Byala Slatina, 130 km northeast of Sofia, killing all 73 people on board. At the time of the crash, the aircraft was flying at a speed of 800 kilometres per hour (432 kn; 497 mph) with almost full fuel tanks, containing 11 tons of fuel. The nature of the emergency and whether the aircraft was under control at the moment of impact were never established.
After the crash, the Bulgarian Army quickly arrived at the scene, and sealed it off. The investigation performed afterwards was superficial. The official cause given by the Bulgarian authorities was a "malfunction of electrical installation".[6] The accident was quickly forgotten, with no further investigations being conducted. The haste with which the disaster was "forgotten" and the superficial investigation that was carried out raised doubts. This sparked speculation as to the real cause of the crash. One version of the event claimed that the Tu-134 collided with a MiG-21 of the Bulgarian Air Force. Another version assumed that the aircraft was shot down mistakenly by the Bulgarian anti-aircraft defense system. These claims are driven by the fact that there was a Warsaw Pact military base in the area.[5]
Victims
editThe victims of the crash were 37 Polish passengers, 27 Bulgarian passengers, two British passengers and seven crew members.[6]
Among the victims were members of the Polish national track cycling team (Tadeusz Włodarczyk, Witold Stachowiak, Marek Kolasa, Krzysztof Otocki and Jacek Zdaniuk)[5] and members of the Bulgarian national rhythmic gymnastics team (Valentina Kirilova, Snezhana Mikhailova, Albena Petrova, Sevdalina Popova and Rumiana Stefanova with their coach Julieta Shishmanova).[7] Other victims included the Polish Vice-Minister of Culture Janusz Wilhelmi[5] and Bulgarian footballer Georgi Dimitrov.[7]
Commemoration
editA marble monument located in a gorge near the village of Gabare commemorates the accident and its victims. It is placed in hard-to-reach terrain and no path leads towards it.[5] In 2016, on the initiative of Leszek Sibilski and Wacław Skarul, a memorial plaque was unveiled at the velodrome Arena Pruszków in Pruszków, Poland. It reads "The living owe it to those who can no longer speak to tell their story."[8]
References
edit- UK CAA Document CAA 429 World Airline Accident Summary (ICAO Summary 4/80)
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Туполев Ту-134 Бортовой №: LZ-TUB" [Tupolev Tu-134 Aircraft number: LZ-TUB]. Russianplanes.net (in Russian). Retrieved 19 April 2021.
- ^ a b c d e Zimoch, Jakub (19 June 2016). "Tajemnicza katastrofa w Gabare i strącone marzenia kolarzy" [The mysterious crash in Gabare and the crushed dreams of cyclists]. Polska The Times (in Polish). Retrieved 10 April 2021.
- ^ a b Sokalska, Arlena (18 December 2020). "Zapomniana katastrofa lotnicza w Gabare. Opowieść o ludziach, którzy pamiętają" [The forgotten plane crash in Gabare. A story about people who remember]. Polska The Times (in Polish). Retrieved 10 April 2021.
- ^ a b "39 години от трагичната гибел на Жулиета Шишманова и Георги Димитров - Червения" [39 years from the tragic death of Julieta Shishmanova and Georgi Dimitrov - The Red]. CSKA - United Sports Clubs (in Bulgarian). 16 March 2017. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
- ^ "Odsłonięcie tablicy tragicznie zmarłym reprezentantom Polski" [Unveiling a plaque to the tragically deceased representatives of Poland]. Rowery.org (in Polish). 23 November 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2021.