Bomb on board UTA flight 772

UTA Flight 772, operated by the French airline Union de Transports Aériens, was a scheduled international flight from Brazzaville (BZV/FCBB) in the People's Republic of Congo, with a stopover in N'Djamena (NDJ/FTTJ), Chad, en route to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris (CDG/LFPG), France. On the 19th of September 1989, the aircraft crashed in the Ténéré desert near Bilma, Niger, after a suitcase bomb exploded in-flight, resulting in the deaths of all 170 passengers and crew. This event marks the deadliest aviation disaster in Niger's history.

The aircraft departed N'Djamena at 13:13, reaching a cruising altitude of FL350. At 13:59, an explosion ripped through a container at position 13R in the forward cargo hold, causing overpressure and ejecting fragments of luggage, containers, and pallets, creating holes in the fuselage's left, right, and underside. The cockpit collapsed to the fuselage's left side, and the aircraft disintegrated over the Ténéré desert. The bomb was likely concealed in luggage loaded in Brazzaville. The perpetrators were initially unknown, but a confession led to the in-absentia indictment of six Libyans, including Muammar Gaddafi's brother-in-law and the deputy head of Libyan intelligence. The attack was presumably in retaliation for French support of Chad during the Chadian-Libyan conflict from 1978 to 1987.

Aircraft Information:

Airline: UTA

Code: UT/UTA

Aircraft: McDonell Douglas DC-10-30

Registration: N54629

Serial Number: 46852

Engines: General Electric CF6-50C2R

First Flew: 13/03/1973

Age: 16 years old