Afriqiyah Airways - Accidents and Incidents

Accidents and Incidents

• On 12 May 2010, at 04:10 UTC (06:10 Tripoli time) Flight 771, an Airbus A330-202, flying from Johannesburg in South Africa to Tripoli crashed on approach to Tripoli airport. 11 crew members and 93 passengers were killed. The sole survivor was a nine-year-old Dutch boy. The aircraft (serial number 1024) was delivered on 8 September 2009, thus being some eight months old at the time of the incident. The aircraft had logged approximately 1600 hours on 420 flights. The weather at the time of the crash was officially recorded as cloudy, but with good visibility, and no fog or thunderstorms. However, the aircraft was making an approach to the easterly runway, which has no blind landing aids. The sun was just on the horizon and a sandstorm had just passed, making the visibility into the sun decidedly murky. The westerly runway, away from the sun, had excellent visibility, however, and it is unclear why the pilot was directed to use the easterly runway in such marginal conditions following a long overnight flight.

• On 25 August 2011, during crossfire in the Battle of Tripoli, Airbus A300B4-620 5A-IAY was destroyed, and an Airbus A320, 5A-ONK, sustained damage to the starboard wing root from a rocket-propelled grenade while it was parked on the ramp on Tripoli International Airport. Another aircraft, 5A-ONH, has been raked from stem to stern by machine gun fire.