Benghazi-Benina

Following an uneventful flight from Benghazi, the crew was cleared to start the descent to Tripoli Airport. Due to military traffic, the crew was instructed to hold over the Papa Echo beacon located 4,1 DME from runway 27 threshold. At an altitude of 3,000 feet, the Boeing 727 collided with a Libyan Air Force MiG-23 that just took off from Tripoli Airport. The fighter struck the tail of the Boeing that entered a dive and crashed 9 km from the airport after the tail separated. All 157 occupants were killed while both pilots on board the fighter ejected safely.

During the takeoff roll at Tripoli Airport, after a course of about 700 metres, the aircraft veered off runway to the left. While contacting soft ground, all undercarriage and all four engines were torn off. The aircraft slid for few dozen metres and came to rest, broken in three and bursting into flames. All 199 occupants were evacuated, among them 10 were injured.

One minute after takeoff from the Q5 A-103 Oil Field, en route to Benghazi, the single engine airplane went out of control and crashed. The airplane was totally destroyed and both pilots were killed. The accident occurred about 350 km southeast of Benghazi.

The aircraft was completing a charter flight from Mecca to Tripoli with an intermediate stop in Benghazi, carrying Libyan pilgrims flying back home. While descending to Benghazi Airport, the crew was instructed by ATC to divert to Al Bayda as the airport was closed due to foggy conditions. In the area of Al Bayda, the crew was unable to locate the airport due to fog and completed several circuits when the airplane ran out of fuel. The pilot-in-command attempted an emergency landing in a desert area located few km from Al Bayda Airport when the aircraft crashed. 59 passengers were killed while 46 others occupants were injured and 60 escaped uninjured.

Flight 114 was an international scheduled service from Tripoli to Bahrain with intermediate stops in Benghazi and Cairo. On board were 104 passengers and a crew of nine, five from Air France, among them the captain, Mr. Jacques Bourgès, aged 42. Normally, the Benghazi – Cairo route was flown eastwards along the Libyan coast until reaching the city of Sidi Barrani in Egypt, where the airway turned inland to the VHF omnidirectional range (VOR) and Non-Directional Beacon (NDB) area located west of Lake Qarun. The entry to the Cairo terminal area was made on a north-easterly heading over a 71-nautical-mile (131 km) long path that separated Lake Qarun from the Cairo VOR. At 13:45 the Cairo traffic control (CTC) saw the aircraft approaching from the west. Permission was granted to land in runway 23. CTC surprisingly saw the Boeing heading eastward towards the Suez Canal at 13:50. Evidence from both the recovered Boeing 727 voice recorders and the Israeli authorities' flight data recorder later showed that the Libyan aircraft was likely to had been already off course when it reported its position over Qarun, probably due to strong westerly upper-level winds associated to a low level sandstorm. The crew was forced to rely on instrument navigation because of this sandstorm. Both instrument and navigational error caused the aircraft to go off course, entering airspace dominated by Israel when flying over the Sinai Peninsula. By this time the aircraft had been lost from the Egyptian air traffic control. The crew believed they were close to the destination airport and started the descent. At 13:55 the aircraft was detected in the radar by the Israelis as it was entering Israeli airspace; it was located south-east of Suez at an altitude of 15,000 feet (4,600 m). Two Israeli Air Force Phantoms were sent to intercept the then unidentified aircraft. Following the re-establishment of communications with CTC the pilot of the Libyan aircraft looked through the cabin's port window and saw the fighters, but he mistook them for Egyptian MiGs. The Libyan aircraft continued flying deeper into the Sinai at a speed of 325 miles per hour (523 km/h), but it suddenly veered to the west. It was at that time that the Boeing's crew realised they were having problems with their instruments. The Israeli fighter pilots attempted to make visual contact with the passenger airliner's crew, and tried to communicate to them by signaling with their hands and dipping their wings. The 727 crew's response was interpreted as a denial of that request. The 727 adopting a westward course was interpreted by the Israeli pilots as an attempt to flee. The Israeli Phantom pilots fired bursts from their 20 mm M61 cannons, severely damaging the airliner's control surfaces, hydraulic systems, and wing structure. Flight 114 attempted an emergency landing in an area covered with sand dunes, but crashed, with an explosion near the right main landing gear. Four passengers and the copilot survived while 108 other occupants were killed. The copilot later said that the flight crew knew the Israeli jets wanted them to land but relations between Israel and Libya made them decide against following instructions. In direct contradiction to the co-pilot's own account, the Libyan government stated that the attack occurred without warning. Israel's air force perceived Flight 114 as a security threat, and that among the possible tasks it could have been undertaking was an aerial spy mission over the Israeli air base at Bir Gifgafa. The Israeli government also revealed that LN114 was shot down with the personal authorization of David Elazar, the Israeli Chief of Staff. Israel's argument was that the heightened security situation and the erratic behaviour of the jet's crew made the actions taken prudent. The United Nations did not take any action against Israel. The 30 member nations of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) voted to censure Israel for the attack. The United States did not accept the reasoning given by Israel, and condemned the incident. Israel's Defense Minister, Moshe Dayan, called it an "error of judgment", and Israel paid compensation to the victims' families.

En route from Amman to Benghazi, the airplane was overflying Egypt when an Egyptian Air Force MiG-21 positioned beside it. The crew was contacted several times and instructed to divert to Cairo Airport. For unknown reason, the crew failed to follow these instructions and the airplane was shot down by air-air missile, dove into the ground and crashed 40 km east of Alexandria. The aircraft was destroyed and both pilots were killed.

On final approach to Benghazi, the pilot encountered marginal weather conditions. Due to a sand storm, he attempted a go-around when control was lost. The airplane stalled and crashed near the runway threshold, killing both occupants.

While overflying the Gulf of Sirte, the single engine aircraft crashed into the sea in unknown circumstances. SAR operations were conducted over a large area but no trace of the aircraft nor the 10 occupants was ever found.

The flight is a scheduled service from Salisbury, Rhodesia, to London and is known as the Zambezi service. This service is operated by three crews, one crew operating from Salisbury to Entebbe, the second from Entebbe to Benina and the third from Benina to London. On 8 August this service departed from Salisbury at 0713LT and a stop was made at Ndola for traffic purposes. At Entebbe, a relief crew took over the aircraft for the sector to Benina. Stops were made at Khartoum and Wadi Halfa for refuelling and the aircraft left Wadi Halfa at 2120LT for Benina. The flight was completely uneventful and slightly ahead of schedule up to the time of the accident. At 0112 hours the aircraft was cleared into Benina control zone. At the request of the pilot, at 0114 hours, permission was given by Benina Approach Control to make a direct approach on to runway 330° Right, using the locator and the responder beacons. Between 20 and 30 seconds after this clearance had been acknowledged by the pilot the aircraft struck high ground 5,5 miles to the southeast of the aerodrome. Fire broke out on impact. Of the 7 crew and 47 passengers aboard the aircraft, 4 crew and 32 passengers were killed.

Upon landing in a desert area in Benghazi, a tire burst. The airplane came to rest and was damaged beyond repair. All four occupants escaped uninjured.