Tu-154 crash near Damascus
Balkan Tupolev Tu-154 · Crew error
From Sofia (Bulgaria) to Sharjah (UAE)
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
- 4 · 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
- Airline
Tupolev Tu-154
- Aircraft type
- Tupolev TU-154
- 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
- LZ-BTB
- Operator
- Balkan
- Onboard fatalities
- 4
- Route
- From Sofia (Bulgaria)To Sharjah (UAE)
Approximate · Estimated position: Damascus, near the place the Wikipedia article names. Not the accident site.
From the Wikipedia article
The Tu-154 crash near Damascus was an aviation accident that occurred on Thursday 23 March 1978 near Damascus, killing 4 people.
Crash
The aircraft was operating a training flight (according to some sources, a cargo flight) on the route Sofia – Damascus – Sharjah. On board were 4 crew members, including a trainee pilot. The approach to Damascus was flown by the trainee, who allowed a descent below the safe altitude. As a result, 22.5 km north-east of Damascus airport, the Tu-154 struck high ground and was completely destroyed. All 4 people on board were killed.
Translated into English with AI assistance from the Russian Wikipedia article “Катастрофа Ту-154 под Дамаском” (revision 146572549, retrieved 2026-09-19) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out; the translation may contain errors, and long articles were cut to their first 700 words. Read the article
Sources
Russian Wikipedia article: Катастрофа Ту-154 под Дамаском
- Translation
- Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
- Revision
- 146572549 · 2025-07-16 · retrieved 2026-09-19
- Wikidata
- Q16662598
- 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
- ru Wikipedia article "Катастрофа Ту-154 под Дамаском" (page 4998760, revision 146572549), translated into English with AI assistance
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- place the Wikipedia infobox site links (Wikidata 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
- Reviewed correction (2026-09-26): A Tu-154 of Balkan, the Bulgarian state airline, on a training or cargo flight; either way it is the airline's own flight. The article: "The aircraft was operating a training flight (according to some sources, a cargo flight) on the route Sofia – Damascus – Sharjah."
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Russian Wikipedia article's infobox, translated into English with AI assistance, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.