Middle East Airlines Flight 438

1976 airliner bombing

Middle East Airlines Flight 438
Bombing
OD-AFS, a sister ship of the incident aircraft, photographed in July 1977.
Date	1 January 1976 (1976-01-01)
Summary	Terrorist bombing
Site	37 km (23 mi) NW of Qaisumah, Saudi Arabia
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 720-023B
Operator	Middle East Airlines
IATA flight No.	ME438
ICAO flight No.	MEA438
Call sign	CEDAR JET438
Registration	OD-AFT
Flight origin	Beirut International Airport, Lebanon
Stopover	Abu Dhabi International Airport, United Arab Emirates
Destination	Muscat International Airport, Oman
Occupants	81
Passengers	66
Crew	15
Fatalities	81
Survivors	0

Middle East Airlines Flight 438 was an international passenger flight operated by a Boeing 720 from Beirut, Lebanon, to Muscat, Oman, with a stopover in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. On 1 January 1976, the aircraft operating the flight was destroyed by a bomb, killing all 81 people on board. The bombers were never identified.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was a Boeing 720-023B (serial number 18020 and serial 165). It first flew on 23 September 1960. The aircraft was registered as N7534A and was delivered to American Airlines on 10 October. In July 1971, American Airlines sold the aircraft back to lessor. On 3 March 1972, the aircraft was sold to Middle East Airlines where it was re-registered as OD-AFT. The aircraft was powered by four Pratt & Whitney JT3D-1-MC7 turbofan engines with water cooling and a thrust of 17,000 pounds-force (76 kN) each.

Bombing

Flight 438 was an international passenger flight from Beirut, Lebanon to Muscat, Oman, with a stopover in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. With 15 crew members and 66 passengers (other sources stated that there were 67 passengers) on board, flight 438 departed from Beirut. In the predawn twilight, the airliner was en route from Beirut to Dubai when at 05:30, 1 hour and 40 minutes after departure, a bomb exploded in the front section of the cargo hold. The aircraft broke up at an altitude of 11,300 metres (37,100 ft) and crashed 37 km (23 mi) northwest of Qaisumah, Saudi Arabia. The crash was the deadliest aviation disaster to occur in Saudi Arabia at the time, and is now the sixth-deadliest. It is also the second-deadliest aviation disaster involving the Boeing 720, behind Pakistan International Airlines Flight 705.

Investigation

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According to several reports, the bomb was planted on board by Omani militants. The bomb timer was set so that the bomb would explode after landing at Muscat airport. Killing the passengers was not the goal of the militants. Flight 438 was originally going to be operated by a Boeing 747, but a technical malfunction was discovered, requiring a Boeing 720 to be used instead. Boarding and baggage loading delayed the flight, causing the bomb to explode early while the aircraft was still cruising.

References

^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 720-023B OD-AFT Al Qaysumah". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
"Registration Details For N7534A (American Airlines) 720-023". PlaneLogger. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
"Crash of a Boeing 720 in Al Qaysumah: 82 killed". B3A Aircraft Accidents Archives. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
Gero, David (29 May 2009). "1960s". Aviation Disasters: The World's Major Civil Airliner Crashes Since 1950. The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7524-9992-5.

External links

Criminal Occurrence description at the Aviation Safety Network
UK CAA Document CAA 429 World Airline Accident Summary (ICAO Summary 4/76)

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in 1976 (1976)
Jan 1 Middle East Airlines Flight 438Jan 3 Aeroflot Flight 2003Jan 15 Taxi Aereo el Venado Douglas DC-4 accidentFeb 9 Aeroflot Flight 3739Mar 6 Aeroflot Flight 909Apr 5 Alaska Airlines Flight 60Apr 26 Gubir shootdownApr 27 American Airlines Flight 625May 9 Imperial Iranian Air Force Flight 48May 15 Aeroflot Flight 1802May 23 Philippine Airlines Flight 116Jun 1 Aeroflot Flight 418Jun 4 Air Manila Flight 702Jun 6 Double Six CrashJun 27 Air France Flight 139Jul 28 ČSA Flight 001Aug 15 SAETA Flight 232Aug 23 EgyptAir Flight 321Sep 3 Venezuelan Air Force C-130 crashSep 9 Anapa mid-air collisionSep 10 Zagreb mid-air collisionSep 10 TWA Flight 355Sep 19 Turkish Airlines Flight 452Oct 6 Cubana de Aviación Flight 455Oct 12 Indian Airlines Flight 171Oct 13 LAB Boeing 707 crashNov 23 Olympic Airways Flight 830Nov 28 Aeroflot Flight 2415Dec 17 Aeroflot Flight N-36Dec 25 EgyptAir Flight 864
1975 ◄ ► 1977

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1976 (1976)

Jan 1 Middle East Airlines Flight 438Jan 3 Aeroflot Flight 2003Jan 15 Taxi Aereo el Venado Douglas DC-4 accidentFeb 9 Aeroflot Flight 3739Mar 6 Aeroflot Flight 909Apr 5 Alaska Airlines Flight 60Apr 26 Gubir shootdownApr 27 American Airlines Flight 625May 9 Imperial Iranian Air Force Flight 48May 15 Aeroflot Flight 1802May 23 Philippine Airlines Flight 116Jun 1 Aeroflot Flight 418Jun 4 Air Manila Flight 702Jun 6 Double Six CrashJun 27 Air France Flight 139Jul 28 ČSA Flight 001Aug 15 SAETA Flight 232Aug 23 EgyptAir Flight 321Sep 3 Venezuelan Air Force C-130 crashSep 9 Anapa mid-air collisionSep 10 Zagreb mid-air collisionSep 10 TWA Flight 355Sep 19 Turkish Airlines Flight 452Oct 6 Cubana de Aviación Flight 455Oct 12 Indian Airlines Flight 171Oct 13 LAB Boeing 707 crashNov 23 Olympic Airways Flight 830Nov 28 Aeroflot Flight 2415Dec 17 Aeroflot Flight N-36Dec 25 EgyptAir Flight 864

1975 ◄ ► 1977

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in Saudi Arabia
Middle East Airlines Flight 444 (April 1964) Middle East Airlines Flight 438 (January 1976) Pakistan International Airlines Flight 740 (November 1979) Saudia Flight 163 (August 1980) Iraqi Airways Flight 163 (December 1986) Nigeria Airways Flight 2120 (July 1991) Lufthansa Cargo Flight 8460 (July 2010)

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