Middle East Airlines Flight 438 was an international passenger flight operated by a Boeing 720 from Beirut, Lebanon, to Muscat, Oman, with a stopover in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. On 1 January 1976 the aircraft operating the flight was destroyed by a bomb, killing all 81 people on board. The bombers were never identified.[1]
_JP5943303.jpg) OD-AFS, a sister ship of the incident aircraft, photographed in July 1977. | |
| Bombing | |
|---|---|
| Date | 1 January 1976 |
| Summary | Terrorist bombing |
| Site | 37 km (23 mi) NW of Qaisumah, Saudi Arabia |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 720-023B |
| Operator | Middle East Airlines |
| Registration | OD-AFT |
| Flight origin | Beirut International Airport, Lebanon |
| Stopover | Abu Dhabi International Airport, United Arab Emirates |
| Destination | Muscat International Airport, Oman |
| Passengers | 66 |
| Crew | 15 |
| Fatalities | 81 |
| Survivors | 0 |
Aircraft
editThe aircraft involved was a Boeing 720-023B (serial number 18020 and serial 165). Its first flight was on 23 September 1960. The aircraft was registered as N7534A and was delivered to American Airlines on 10 October the same year. In July 1971, American Airlines sold the aircraft back to lessor. On 3 March 1972, the aircraft was sold to Middle East Airlines where it was re-registered as OD-AFT. The aircraft was powered by four Pratt & Whitney JT3D-1-MC7 turbofan engines with water cooling and a thrust of 17,000 pounds-force (76 kN) each.[2][unreliable source?]
Bombing
editFlight ME438 was an international passenger flight from Beirut, Lebanon to Muscat, Oman, with a stopover in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. With 15 crew members and 66 passengers (other sources stated that there were 67 passengers[3]) on board, flight 438 departed from Beirut. In the predawn twilight, the airliner was en route from Beirut to Dubai when at 05:30, 1 hour and 40 minutes after departure, a bomb exploded in the front section of the cargo hold. The aircraft broke up at an altitude of 11,300 metres (37,100 ft) and crashed 37 km (23 mi) northwest of Qaisumah, Saudi Arabia. The crash was the deadliest aviation disaster to occur in Saudi Arabia at the time, and is now the sixth-deadliest. It is also the second-deadliest aviation disaster involving the Boeing 720, behind Pakistan International Airlines Flight 705.[1][4]
Investigation
editAccording to several reports, the bomb was planted on board by Omani militants. The bomb timer was set so that the bomb would explode after landing at Muscat airport. Killing the passengers was not the goal of the militants. Flight 438 was originally going to be operated by a Boeing 747, but a technical malfunction was discovered, requiring a Boeing 720 to be used instead. Boarding and baggage loading delayed the flight, causing the bomb to explode early while the aircraft was still cruising.[citation needed]
References
edit- ^ a b Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 720-023B OD-AFT Al Qaysumah". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
- ^ "Registration Details For N7534A (American Airlines) 720-023". PlaneLogger. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
- ^ "Crash of a Boeing 720 in Al Qaysumah: 82 killed". B3A Aircraft Accidents Archives. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
- ^ Gero, David (29 May 2009). "1960s". Aviation Disasters: The World's Major Civil Airliner Crashes Since 1950. The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7524-9992-5.
External links
edit- Criminal Occurrence description at the Aviation Safety Network
- UK CAA Document CAA 429 World Airline Accident Summary (ICAO Summary 4/76)