Date 8 November 1983 Passengers 126 Fatalities 130 (all) | Site near Lubango, Angola Crew 4 | |
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Summary Claimed shootdown, Disputed | ||
The 1983 TAAG Angola Airlines Boeing 737 crash occurred just after a Boeing 737-200 took off from Lubango Airport at Lubango, Angola, on a regular domestic flight (flightnumber DT462) to Quatro de Fevereiro Airport in Luanda on November 8, 1983. The aircraft had 126 passengers and four crew on board.
The aircraft was at 200 feet (61 m) and climbing when it began to descend and turn left. The left wingtip hit the ground, and the aircraft broke apart and burst into flames. The wreckage came to rest 800 meters (2,625 feet) from the end of the runway at Lubango Airport. The crash killed all 130 people on board.
Cause
UNITA guerillas claimed to have shot down the aircraft—which they believed to be carrying only military personnel—with a surface-to-air missile to protest Angola's government. Post-crash investigation of the aircraft's wreckage by the Angolan authorities revealed no conclusive evidence of missile damage, and the cause of the crash is officially considered to be a mechanical failure.