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1988 T&G Aviation DC-7 incident

8 Dec 1988 · near the Moroccan Western Sahara Wall

DC-7 and DC-7

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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
Accident
Event fatalities
5 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
Unknown
Occupants
Unknown
Survivors
Unknown
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
General aviation

Aircraft 1 · DC-7

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
N284
Operator
T&G Aviation
Onboard fatalities
5
Occupants
5
Survivors
Not stated
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
Not stated
Route
From SenegalTo Morocco

Aircraft 2 · DC-7

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
N90804
Operator
Unknown
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From SenegalTo Morocco

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

From the Wikipedia article

The T&G Aviation DC-7 incident was a civil aviation disaster that occurred on Thursday 8 December 1988. Two DC-7 planes flying on a locust-control mission on behalf of the United States Agency for International Development were attacked en-route from Senegal to Morocco by POLISARIO troops who may have mistaken them for Moroccan military C-130 aircraft.

Both planes were hit by 9K32 Strela-2 MANPADS missiles. One crashed, killing all 5 on board, the other managed to land despite losing an engine

Incident

Both Planes were following their flight plane on Airway Red 975 at an altitude of 11000 ft and were flying 1.5 mi apart. The planes were attacked with 9K32 Strela-2 missiles by POLISARIO troops. The main aircraft (N284) lost an engine and a wing, and then crashed near the Moroccan Western Sahara Wall, killing all 5 crew members on board. The other aircraft (N90804) lost an engine and a part of a wing but managed to land in Sidi Ifni. American sources stated that it is possible that the attackers mistook the planes for Moroccan military aircraft.

Text from the Wikipedia article “1988 T&G Aviation DC-7 incident” (revision 1367460378, 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: 1988 T&G Aviation DC-7 incident
Article
1988 T&G Aviation DC-7 incident
Revision
1367460378 · 2026-08-03 · retrieved 2026-09-18
Wikidata
Q108898616
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 "1988 T&G Aviation DC-7 incident" (page 68854406, revision 1367460378)
Date
Wikipedia article text, read with AI assistance: date
Place and country
Wikipedia article text, read with AI assistance: site
Map position
Wikipedia article coordinates
Aircraft, operator and route
Wikipedia article text, read with AI assistance: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
Operation
Reviewed correction (2026-09-26): The DC-7s of the contractor T&G Aviation were spraying locusts for a government aid agency: aerial work by a private contractor, which counts as general aviation. The article: "Two DC-7 planes flying on a locust-control mission on behalf of the United States Agency for International Development"
Fatalities
Wikipedia article text, read with AI assistance: total_fatalities
Ground fatalities
not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
Summary
Wikipedia article lead
Source notes (1)
  • Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.