 A Fokker F-27 similar to the accident aircraft | |
| Criminal occurrence | |
|---|---|
| Date | 16 August 1986 (1986-08-16) |
| Summary | Shot-down by SPLA militants |
| Site | Near Malakal Airport, Malakal, South Sudan 9°34′29.94″N 31°41′22.59″E / 9.5749833°N 31.6896083°E / 9.5749833; 31.6896083 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Fokker F-27 Friendship 400M |
| Operator | Sudan Airways |
| Registration | ST-ADY |
| Flight origin | Malakal Airport (MAK/HSSM) |
| Destination | Khartoum International Airport (KRT/HSSS) |
| Passengers | 57 |
| Crew | 3 |
| Fatalities | 60 |
| Survivors | 0 |
On 16 August 1986 a Sudan Airways Fokker F-27 Friendship 400M was performing a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Malakal (in present South Sudan) to Khartoum in Sudan, when it was shot down by the SPLA militants. All 60 people on board the aircraft were killed. As of February 2024, the shootdown remains the deadliest incident involving a Fokker F-27 and the deadliest aviation incident in South Sudan.
Background
During the Second Sudanese Civil War, on 5 August 1986, the SPLA militants announced they would shoot down all unauthorized military or civilian aircraft, claiming that the government was using them to transport soldiers and weapons. Approximately at the time of the 1986 shootdown the militants singled out one humanitarian charter company, alleging that the company had a government contract "to spy on and take aerial photographs of" rebel operations. In May 1986 the militants brought down a passenger plane, killing all 13 aboard.
The aircraft involved in the August 1986 shootdown had a serial number 10277. It made its maiden flight in 1965 and accrued a total of 25,702 airframe hours and 19,290 flight cycles.
Shootdown
Shortly after takeoff from Malakal the aircraft was brought down by a Soviet-made Strela 2 surface-to-air missile, fired by a Shilluk contingent of the SPLA. According to contemporary press reports, the missile was captured from the Sudanese army.
References
- ^ "Criminal Occurrence description". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
- ^ "Sudanese Rebels Will Bar Relief Agencies Operating Under Government Auspices". Los Angeles Times. 30 August 1987. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
- "African routes survive politics and missiles". Flight International. 30 August 1986. p. 37. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
| Aviation accidents and incidents in 1986 (1986) | |
|---|---|
| Jan 18 Aerovías Caravelle crashJan 28 VASP Flight 210Feb 16 China Airlines Flight 2265Mar 2 Aeroflot Flight F-77Mar 31 Mexicana de Aviación Flight 940Apr 2 TWA Flight 840Apr 5 Ljósufjöll air crashApr 17 Hindawi affairMay 3 Air Lanka Flight 512May 3 China Airlines Flight 334Jun 18 Grand Canyon National Park collisionJul 2 Aeroflot Flight 2306Aug 3 LIAT Flight 319Aug 16 Sudan Airways Fokker F-27 shootdownAug 31 Aeroméxico Flight 498Sep 5 Pan Am Flight 73Oct 5 Corporate Air Services HPF821Oct 19 Mozambican Tupolev Tu-134 crashOct 20 Aeroflot Flight 6502Oct 26 Thai Airways International Flight 620Nov 6 British Int'l Helicopters Chinook crashNov 17 Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1628Dec 12 Aeroflot Flight 892Dec 25 Iraqi Airways Flight 163 | |
| 1985 ◄ ► 1987 |
- 1986 in Sudan
- Accidents and incidents involving the Fokker F27
- Airliner shootdown incidents
- Mass murder in 1986
- Aviation accidents and incidents in 1986
- Military history of South Sudan
- Sudan Airways accidents and incidents
- 20th-century aircraft shootdown incidents
- August 1986 events in Africa
- 1986 murders in Sudan
- 20th-century mass murder in Sudan