Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114

Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 was a regularly scheduled international passenger flight from Tripoli, Libya, to Cairo, Egypt, through Benghazi in Libya. The flight was shot down on 21 February 1973 by two Israeli McDonnell Douglas F-4 fighter jets after it mistakenly entered the airspace of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula – then under Israeli occupation – resulting in the death of 108 passengers and crew, with 5 survivors.

The Boeing 727-200 left Tripoli and flew to Benghazi for its scheduled stopover. After taking off from Benghazi, it became lost because of a combination of bad weather and equipment failure over Northern Egypt. The aircraft entered Israeli controlled airspace and territory over the Sinai Peninsula, where it was intercepted by two Israeli F-4s. It was then shot down by the Israeli fighter pilots with the authorisation of David Elazar, chief of staff of the Israeli Defense Forces.

The downing of the plane earned unanimous international criticism: both the Soviet Union and the United States condemned the incident, not accepting the reasoning given by Israel; all member-nations of the International Civil Aviation Organization voted to censure Israel for the attack. Israel's Defense Minister, Moshe Dayan, called it an "error of judgment", and Israel paid compensation to the victims' families.

Timeline

Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 was an international scheduled Tripoli–Benghazi–Cairo passenger service operated with a Boeing 727–224. After a brief stop in Benghazi, the aircraft departed the city at 10:40 GMT and continued to Cairo with 113 people on board. Most of the passengers were Arabs, but there were also two Germans and an American on board.

Normally, the Benghazi–Cairo route was flown eastwards along the Libyan coast until reaching the city of Sidi Barrani in Egypt, where the airway turned inland to the VHF omnidirectional range (VOR) and non-directional beacon (NDB) area located west of Lake Qarun. The entry to the Cairo terminal area was made on a north-easterly heading over a 71 NM long path that separated Lake Qarun from the Cairo VOR. At 13:45, the Cairo traffic control (CTC) saw the aircraft approaching from the west. Permission was granted to land on runway 23. CTC surprisingly saw the Boeing heading eastward towards the Suez Canal at 13:50. Evidence from both the recovered Boeing 727 voice recorders and the Israeli authorities' flight data recorder later showed that the Libyan aircraft was likely off course when it reported its position over Qarun, probably due to strong westerly upper-level winds associated with a low level sandstorm. The crew was forced to rely on instrument navigation because of this sandstorm. Both instrument and navigational error caused the aircraft to go off course, entering Israeli-controlled airspace over the Sinai Peninsula. By this time, the aircraft had been lost by the Egyptian air traffic control. The crew believed they were close to the destination airport and started a descent.

At 13:55, the aircraft was detected on the radar by the Israelis as it was entering Israeli-controlled airspace; it was located south-east of Suez at an altitude of 15000 ft. Two Israeli Air Force Phantoms were sent to intercept the then-unidentified aircraft. Following the re-establishment of communications with CTC, the French pilot looked through the cabin's port window and saw the fighters, but he mistook them for Egyptian MIGs. It continued flying eastwards into the Sinai at a speed of 325 mph, until the crew realised they had had problems with their instruments and were off their path. At this moment, the French pilot performed a U-turn, in order to leave the Sinai and go back towards Cairo. The Israeli pilots interpreted it as an attempt to flee and, according to them, then tried to make visual contact with the airliner's crew and to communicate with them by signaling with their hands. Still according to the Israelis, the 727's French pilot responded with a hand gesture indicating refusal, signaling his intention to continue back on his way out of Sinai. The fighter-pilots claim to have replied by dipping their wings, but this was once again ignored by the airliner crew. Then, the Israeli Phantoms opened fire on the airliner.

The Israeli Phantom pilots fired bursts from their 20 mm M61 cannons, severely damaging the airliner's control surfaces, hydraulic systems, and wing structure. Flight 114 attempted an emergency landing but the aircraft hit the top of a sand dune; it bounced hard and a wing section was torn off before the airframe slid down a slope. Thirteen people were still alive in the burning wreckage when Israeli soldiers arrived at the crash site; seven of them still lived two days later. Of the 113 people aboard, 108 died, including the former foreign minister of Libya, Salah Busir, and television presenter Salwa Hegazy.