Flight accident of a Tupolev Tu-154 of Libyan Arab Airlines

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Flight accident of a Tupolev Tu-154 of Libyan Arab Airlines
Balkans - Bulgarian Airlines Tupolev Tu-154B; LZ-BTA, September 1980 DRX (5163673005) .jpg

An identical machine
Accident summary
Accident type Lack of fuel
place near Al-Baida , LibyaPolitical system of the Libyan Arab JamahiriyaPolitical system of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 
date 2nd December 1977
Fatalities 59
Survivors 106
Aircraft
Aircraft type Soviet UnionSoviet Union Tupolev Tu-154A
operator Bulgaria 1971Bulgaria Balkan Bulgarian Airlines for Libyan Arab AirlinesPolitical system of the Libyan Arab JamahiriyaPolitical system of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Mark Bulgaria 1971Bulgaria LZ-BTN
Departure airport Jeddah Airport (old) , Saudi Arabia
Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia 
Destination airport Benghazi Airport , LibyaPolitical system of the Libyan Arab JamahiriyaPolitical system of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 
Passengers 159
crew 6th
Lists of aviation accidents

The air accident a Tupolev Tu-154 of Libyan Arab Airlines took place on December 2, 1977. On that day, crashed one with 165 passengers on a hajj - charter flight from Jeddah to Benghazi located Tupolev Tu-154A of the Balkan Bulgarian Airlines , which on behalf of the Libyan Arab Airlines was operated. The accident, which occurred during a failed emergency landing, claimed the lives of 59 passengers.

Up until Korean Air flight 803, it was the worst aircraft accident in Libya. For Libyan Arab Airlines, it was the second most serious accident, the most serious of which had occurred on Libyan Arab Airlines flight 114 . For Balkan Bulgarian Airlines it was also the second worst accident after TABSO flight 101 of their predecessor company.

machine

The affected machine was a Tupolev Tu-154A, built in 1974, with the factory number 74A054 and the model serial number 0054 . The machine was built at Tupolev's Kubischew factory. The roll-out and the first flight took place in January 1974. The Tupolew was then delivered to Egyptair and put into operation on February 24, 1974 with the aircraft registration SU-AXH and the name Ptah-Howait . The machine went to Aeroflot on March 19, 1975 , where it was approved with the license plate CCCP-85054 . The machine was then operated for the Soviet Air Force . From June 20, 1975, a leasing operation for the Malév as HA-LCK followed , before the machine returned to Aeroflot on December 20, 1975. The Balkan Bulgarian Airlines has belonged to the machine since May 30, 1977, and Tupolev has been operating it on wet lease for Libyan Arab Airlines since November 1977 . The three-engine medium range - narrow-body aircraft was equipped with three jet engines of the type Kuznetsov NK-8-2U equipped. By the time of the accident, the machine had completed a total of 3,700 operating hours.

Passengers, crew and flight plan

The machine was one of six Tupolev Tu-154s that were leased to Libyan Arab Airlines by Balkan Bulgarian Airlines for Hajj flights in 1977. In addition to 159 mainly Libyan pilgrims, there was a six-person Bulgarian crew on board.

the accident

The plane had taken off from Jeddah International Airport in Saudi Arabia and was flying to Benina Airport near the Libyan city of Benghazi. At that time, Egyptian airspace was closed to Libyan flights. This forced the pilots to make detours, which made the flight longer. According to reports, the crew had not factored in a longer flight. Accordingly, there were no excessively large stocks of kerosene on board beyond the requirements calculated for the flight route.

When the machine approached Benghazi, there was thick fog on the ground, so that the pilots could not land the machine. As the pilots tried to find an alternative airport to head to, the machine gradually ran out of fuel. The pilots were still trying to reach La Abraq International Airport near Al-Baida . Finally, the engine stalled due to a lack of fuel. The machine then had to be made an emergency landing. 59 people died in the emergency landing.

root cause

When calculating the amount of fuel, the crew did not take into account the political situation in the region at the time. After the Libyan-Egyptian border war broke out four months before the accident , Egypt closed its airspace to Libyan aircraft. The machine had to fly around Egypt, which resulted in higher kerosene consumption. The kerosene supply on reaching Benghazi was finally so low that the crew no longer had the security of planning to navigate safely to another airport.

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