Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 1103
Boeing 727-2L5 and Libyan Air Force Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23UB · Mid-air collision
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
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 159 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 161
- Survivors
- 2
- 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
- 2
- 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
- Military
Aircraft 1 · Boeing 727-2L5
- Flight
- LN1103
- Aircraft type
- Boeing 727
- 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
- 5A-DIA
- Operator
- Libyan Arab Airlines
- Onboard fatalities
- 159
- Occupants
- 159
- 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
- None · no survivors
- Route
- From Benina International Airport (BEN)To Tripoli International Airport
Aircraft 2 · Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23UB
- Aircraft type
- Mikoyan Gurevich MIG-23
- 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
- 8428
- Operator
- Libyan Air Force
- Onboard fatalities
- 0
- Occupants
- 2
- Survivors
- 2
- 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
- 2
- Route
- From not recordedTo not recorded
Cause areas
- Environmental issues › Operating environment
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 1103 was a Boeing 727-2L5 with 9 crew members and 150 passengers on board that collided with a LARAF Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23UB on 22 December 1992. All 159 people on board Flight 1103 were killed, while the pilot and instructor of the MiG-23 ejected and survived. It is the deadliest aviation disaster to occur in Libya.
Crash
On 22 December 1992, Flight 1103 took off from Benina International Airport near Benghazi on a domestic flight to Tripoli International Airport under the command of Captain al-Faqi, First Officer Eissa, and Flight Engineer Abu-Sitta.
At an altitude of 3161 ft above sea level, during the Boeing 727's approach to Tripoli airport, the aircraft's tail collided with a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23's right wing and disintegrated, resulting in the deaths of all 159 passengers and crew. The two crew members of the MiG-23, Major al-Tayari and Lieutenant Colonel Abu-Sneina ejected before impact and survived.
Investigation and cause
Investigation and aftermath
The official explanation and air accident investigation report both blamed a collision with a Libyan Air Force MiG-23; the pilot and instructor of the MiG were imprisoned.
After the crash, a spokesman for the Libyan Civil Authority stated he had been forbidden from releasing any information about the crash, including which planes had been involved. A mass grave was prepared for the victims outside of Tripoli with poor international relations denying the bodies of international victims being returned to their families.
Ali Aujali, who served as a Libyan diplomat both under Gaddafi and under the subsequent National Transitional Council, claims that Gaddafi ordered that the Boeing 727, whose flight was assigned the number 1103, be shot down exactly four years to the day after the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in order to demonstrate the negative effects of international sanctions imposed on Libya. According to Aujali, the dictator originally ordered a bomb with a timer to be in the aircraft, but when this failed to explode, he "ordered the [aircraft] to be knocked out of the sky". The widow of one British victim has claimed Libyan families of victims had asked if she had tested her husband's passports for explosive residue.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 1103” (revision 1347241342, 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: Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 1103
- Revision
- 1347241342 · 2026-04-05 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q4117937
- 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 "Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 1103" (page 27088201, revision 1347241342)
- 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
- operator named as an armed force or military unit in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: total_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.