1983 TAAG Angola Airlines Boeing 737 crash
Encyclopedia
The 1983 TAAG Angola Airlines Boeing 737 crash occurred just after a Boeing 737-200
took off from the Angola
n city of Lubango's
airport
on a domestic flight to Quatro de Fevereiro Airport
on 8 November 1983. The aircraft had 126 passengers and four crew on board. The aircraft was at 200 feet and climbing but then started to descend and turned left until the left wingtip hit the ground and the aircraft broke up, bursting into flames. The wreckage came to rest 800m from the end of the runway at Lubango Airport. The crash killed all 130 passengers and crew on board.
claimed to have shot down the aircraft with a surface-to-air missile
.
Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
took off from the Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
n city of Lubango's
Lubango
Lubango is the capital city of the Angolan province of Huíla. Its last known population was 100,757. Until 1975, the city's official name was Sá da Bandeira.-Portuguese rule:...
airport
Lubango Airport
Lubango Mukanka Airport is an airport serving Lubango, the capital city of the Huíla Province in Angola.-Facilities:The airport resides at an elevation of above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 10/28 with an asphalt surface measuring ....
on a domestic flight to Quatro de Fevereiro Airport
Quatro de Fevereiro Airport
Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport is located in Luanda, a city in the Luanda Province and the capital of Angola. Quatro de Fevereiro is Portuguese for February 4th, a national holiday in Angola marking the start of the armed struggle against the Portuguese colonial regime on 4 February...
on 8 November 1983. The aircraft had 126 passengers and four crew on board. The aircraft was at 200 feet and climbing but then started to descend and turned left until the left wingtip hit the ground and the aircraft broke up, bursting into flames. The wreckage came to rest 800m from the end of the runway at Lubango Airport. The crash killed all 130 passengers and crew on board.
Cause
Angolan authorities stated the crash was the result of technical failure, however UNITAUNITA
The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought with the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola in the Angolan War for Independence and then against the MPLA in the ensuing civil war .The war was one...
claimed to have shot down the aircraft with a surface-to-air missile
Surface-to-air missile
A surface-to-air missile or ground-to-air missile is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles...
.