Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114
5A-DAH, the Boeing 727 involved in the incident, in 1972 | |
| Shootdown | |
|---|---|
| Date | 21 February 1973 |
| Summary | Airliner shootdown |
| Site | Sinai Peninsula 30°20′40″N 32°40′34″E / 30.3444°N 32.6761°E |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 727–224 |
| Operator | Libyan Arab Airlines |
| Registration | 5A-DAH |
| Flight origin | Tripoli International Airport, Tripoli, Libya |
| Stopover | Benghazi Airport, Benghazi, Libya |
| Destination | Cairo International Airport, Cairo, Egypt |
| Occupants | 113 |
| Passengers | 104 |
| Crew | 9 |
| Fatalities | 108 |
| Injuries | 5 |
| Survivors | 5 |
Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 was a regularly scheduled international passenger flight from Tripoli, Libya, to Cairo, Egypt, through Benghazi, that was shot down in 1973 by Israeli fighter jets after it mistakenly entered the airspace of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula – then under Israeli occupation – resulting in the death of 108 passengers and crew, with 5 survivors.
On 21 February 1973, the Boeing 727–200 left Tripoli and flew to Benghazi, for its scheduled stopover. After taking off from Benghazi, it became lost because of a combination of bad weather and equipment failure over Northern Egypt. The aircraft entered Israeli controlled airspace over the Sinai Peninsula, where it was intercepted by two Israeli F-4 Phantom IIs, it was shot down by the Israeli fighter pilots with the authorisation of David Elazar, the Israeli chief of staff.
The downing of the plane earned unanimous international criticism: both the Soviet Union and the United States condemned the incident, not accepting the reasoning given by Israel;: 290 all member-nations of the International Civil Aviation Organization voted to censure Israel for the attack. Israel's Defense Minister, Moshe Dayan, called it an "error of judgment", and Israel paid compensation to the victims' families.