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TAAG Flight 462

8 Nov 1983 · Near Lubango Airport, Lubango, Angola

TAAG Angola Airlines Boeing 737-200 · Mechanical failure

From Lubango Mukanka International Airport (SDD) to Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport (LAD)

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Event

Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Incident
Event fatalities
130 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
Unknown
Occupants
130
Survivors
0
InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
Unknown
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
Airline

Boeing 737-200

Aircraft type
Boeing 737
Category
Airplane · from aircraft type
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
D2-TBN
Onboard fatalities
130
Route
From Lubango Mukanka International Airport (SDD)To Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport (LAD)

Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.

From the Wikipedia article

TAAG Flight 462 was a TAAG Angola Airlines flight which crashed just after the Boeing 737-200 took off from Lubango Airport in Lubango, Angola, on a regular domestic service as Flight DT 462 to Quatro de Fevereiro Airport in Luanda on November 8, 1983. All 130 occupants onboard were killed.

Crash

The Boeing 737 was operating as Flight DT 462. The aircraft was at 200 ft and climbing when it began to descend and turn left. The left wingtip hit the ground, and the aircraft broke apart and burst into flames. The wreckage came to rest 800 m from the end of the runway at Lubango Airport. The crash killed all 130 people on board.

Investigation and cause

Probable cause

UNITA guerrillas claimed to have shot down the aircraft, which they believed to be carrying only military personnel, with a surface-to-air missile to protest Angola's government. Post-crash investigation of the aircraft's wreckage by the Angolan authorities reported no conclusive evidence of missile damage, and the cause of the crash is officially considered to be a mechanical failure.

Text from the Wikipedia article “TAAG Flight 462” (revision 1339302944, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article

Sources

Wikipedia article: TAAG Flight 462
Article
TAAG Flight 462
Revision
1339302944 · 2026-02-19 · retrieved 2026-09-18
Wikidata
Q4581223
Licence
Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
Record
Wikipedia article "TAAG Flight 462" (page 27034752, revision 1339302944)
Date
Wikipedia infobox: date
Place and country
Wikipedia infobox: site
Map position
Wikipedia article coordinates
Aircraft, operator and route
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
Operation
flight number in the article title
Fatalities
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
Ground fatalities
not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
Summary
Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
  • Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.