Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771

Coordinates: 32°39′41″N 13°7′9″E / 32.66139°N 13.11917°E / 32.66139; 13.11917

Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771

5A-ONG, the accident aircraft
Accident summary
Date	12 May 2010
Type	Runway undershot
Site	On approach to runway 09 at Tripoli International Airport in Tripoli, Libya
Passengers	93
Crew	11
Injuries	none
Fatalities	103
Survivors	1
Aircraft type	Airbus A330-202
Operator	Afriqiyah Airways
Tail number	5A-ONG
Flight origin	OR Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg, South Africa
Destination	Tripoli International Airport, Tripoli, Libya

Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771 was a scheduled international passenger flight that crashed on 12 May 2010 at about 06:10 local time (04:10 UTC) on approach to Tripoli International Airport.^[1][2] Of the 104 passengers and crew on board, the sole survivor was 9-year-old Dutch boy Ruben van Assouw.^[3][4][5][6]

The crash of Flight 771 was the second hull-loss of an Airbus A330 in less than a year and the third hull-loss of an Airbus A330 in total.

Aircraft

The aircraft was an Airbus A330-200, registration 5A-ONG, manufacturer's serial number (MSN) 1024. It was delivered in September 2009 and at the time of the accident it had approximately 1,600 hours total flying time and about 420 take-off and landing cycles. The aircraft was powered by two General Electric CF6-80E1 engines.^[7][8] It was configured for a capacity of 253 passengers.^[9][10] This particular flight carried 93 passengers and 11 crew. Most of the passengers were Dutch citizens returning from holiday in South Africa.^[2][5] An airport official stated that 13 Libyans, both passengers and crew, had lost their lives in the crash.^[11][12]

Flight

The route of Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771

The flight originated at OR Tambo International Airport, serving Johannesburg, South Africa. It was scheduled to land at its final destination Tripoli International Airport, Libya.^[2] During the final approach and up to the moment of the accident the pilot had not reported any problems to the control tower.^[13] The aircraft crashed about 900 metres (980 yd) short of Runway 09,^[14] and came to rest within the perimeter of the airfield. It was reported that there was no post-crash fire. The crash was originally reported to have occurred just one metre from the airport runway.^[15] The METAR in force at the time of the crash was HLLT 120350Z VRB01KT 6000 NSC 19/17 Q1008.^[16][A] The main runway of the airport is 3,600 metres (11,800 ft) long. The airport does not have a precision approach system on runway 09 that would direct aircraft down to the runway but has two other simpler systems that are also used throughout the world.^[17] Security officials stated that the plane exploded on landing before disintegrating. Libyan Transport Minister Mohammed Ali Zidan has ruled out terrorism as a cause.^[18] During the incident, the aircraft damaged a house on the ground. The homeowner, his wife, and their five children escaped unharmed. The house and a nearby mosque are scheduled to be demolished as part of the airport expansion plans.^[19] The first body of a non-Libyan passenger was repatriated to the Netherlands on 27 May 2010.^[20] On 21 June 2010 the Libyan authorities began clearing the accident site of Afriqiyah 771.^[20]

At the time, the accident was the second deadliest involving an Airbus A330, and the second deadliest accident to have happened in Libya.^[9] It was also the first hull-loss accident for Afriqiyah Airways.^[14]

Investigation

The Libyan Civil Aviation Authority (LYCAA) opened an investigation into the accident.^[21] Airbus stated that it would provide full technical assistance to the authorities investigating the crash,^[22] and would do so via the French Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile (BEA).^[23] The South African Civil Aviation Authority sent a team to assist with the investigation.^[24] The BEA assisted in the investigation with an initial team of two investigators, accompanied by five advisors from Airbus.^[25] The Dutch Safety Board (Onderzoeksraad voor de Veiligheid "Research Council for Safety") sent an observer.^[26] The flight recorders were recovered and sent to Paris for analysis soon after the incident.^[13][27]

Sources indicated that sand and mist created low visibility that played a role in the crash when the pilot turned the autopilot off for manual landing, realised that he was in trouble and tried to pull up and turn the autopilot back on for another attempt, by which time it was too late. Authorities are currently reviewing the Flight Data Recorder ^[28] In August 2010, it was reported that preliminary investigations were complete. There was no evidence of any technical problems nor was there any fuel shortage. No technical or medical problems had been reported by the crew and they had not requested any assistance.^[16] In April 2011, the Nederlandse Omroep Stichting reported that due to the Civil War in Libya, the investigation was being hampered, with Dutch authorities unable to get any response from the LCAA. The data from the Cockpit Voice Recorder and Flight Data Recorder had been extracted, and the results given to the LCAA. Libyan authorities are reported to be claiming that the pilot suffered a heart attack, although it is claimed that no autopsy had been performed on his body. A counterclaim is that the pilots were fatigued, having flown two consecutive night flights.^[29]

Reactions

Afriqiyah Airways issued a statement saying that relatives of the victims who wished to visit Libya would be transported and accommodated at Afriqiyah's expense. The Libyan authorities relaxed certain passport restrictions and guaranteed the granting of visas.^[30] By 15 May 2010 the airline opened the Family Assistance Centre in a hotel in Tripoli to care for family members and relatives of crash victims who were visiting Libya. The executive team of Afriqiyah, including the CEO and the chairperson of the board, met family members at the hotel. Some family members wanted to visit the crash site; they travelled to the site and placed flowers there.^[30] The airline permanently retired the flight number 771 and it has been re-designated to 788 for Tripoli to Johannesburg and 789 for the return flight.^[20]

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands expressed her shock at hearing the news.^[31] The President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, also offered his condolences.^[2]

Passengers and crew

The passengers aboard Flight 771 were of various nationalities. As of 22:00 UTC on 13 May, the nationality of one passenger has not yet been released. All but one of the eleven crew members were Libyans. One passenger held dual citizenship. The following list reflects the airline's passenger nationality count of the victims.^[30] The airline released the manifest on the morning of 15 May 2010; the airline sent the list to several related embassies.^[30]

Nationality	Killed		Survivors	Total
	Passengers	Crew
Dutch	67	–	1	68
Libyan	2	10	–	12
South African	13*	–	–	13*
Belgian	4	–	–	4
Austrian	2	–	–	2
Irish	1*	–	–	1*
British	1	–	–	1
French	1	–	–	1
Filipino	–	1	–	1
German	1	–	–	1
Zimbabwean	1	–	–	1
Total	92*	11	1	103*

* one South African passport holder, Bree O'Mara, had dual South African and Irish citizenships.^[32][33]

The Libyan Transport Minister Mohamed Zidan reported that the sole survivor was a boy travelling on a Dutch passport, who was found in the debris.^[11][34] He was later identified as 9-year-old Ruben van Assouw,^[6][35] a resident of the city of Tilburg who was returning from a safari with his family.^[36] His parents and brother were also on the plane.^[6] Van Assouw was taken to Sabia'a Hospital, 30 kilometres (19 mi) south-east of Tripoli and later transferred to Al-Khadhra Hospital, Tripoli,^[21] to undergo surgery for multiple fractures in both legs.^[37] Dutch Foreign Ministry spokesman Ad Meijer said the child has no life-threatening injuries.^[2][38] Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and Captain Sabri Shadi, the head of Afriqiyah Airways, visited Van Assouw while he was hospitalised in Libya.^[30] On 15 May, he was transferred by air ambulance to Eindhoven in the Netherlands.^[34] Van Assouw was accompanied on the flight by his aunt and uncle.^[39]

Of the passengers, 42 were continuing to Düsseldorf, 32 were continuing to Brussels, seven to London, and one to Paris. Eleven of the passengers had Libya as their final destination.^[34] Of the 71 passengers identified as Dutch by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 38 were travelling with the Stip travel agency, 24 were travelling with the Kras travel agency, and 9, including the survivor, had their tickets booked independently.^[40][41]

Among the victims were Frans Dreyer, brother of South African Member of Parliament Anchen Dreyer.^[42][43] and his friend and colleague, Anton Matthee. On the evening of 12 May 2010, the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that one of its passport holders was on the plane, novelist Bree O'Mara.^[32][44] One of the Dutch victims was Joëlle van Noppen, singer in the former Dutch girl group WOW!.^[45]

The flight deck members were identified as Captain Yousef Bashir Al-Saadi (Arabic: يوسف بشير الساعدي‎), Co-pilot Tareq Mousa Abu Al-Chaouachi (Arabic: طارق موسي أبو الشواشي‎), and Co-pilot Nazim Al-Mabruk Al-Tarhuni (Arabic: ناظم المبروك الترهوني‎).^[46]

See also

	Libya portal
	Netherlands portal
	Aviation portal

• Air France Flight 447, the only other fatal accident involving an Airbus A330.
• Northwest Airlines Flight 255
• A330 test flight crash, first fatal accident involving an A330, 7 crewmembers died while the aircraft stalled and crashed near Toulouse.
• Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 1103, the deadliest accident in Libya at the time Flight 771 crashed.
• List of sole survivors of aviation accidents or incidents
• Turkish Airlines Flight 1951, British Airways Flight 38, and British Midland Flight 92, similar incidents involving aircraft that crashed short of the runway.

Notes

• A ^ Translation: METAR for Tripoli International Airport, issued at 03:50 UTC on the 12th of the month. Winds variable in direction at 1 knot (1.9 km/h), visibility 6,000 metres (3.7 miles), no significant cloud cover, temperature 19 °C, dewpoint 17 °C, altimeter setting 1008 hPa

References

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12. ^ "Libya plane crash – 'at least one Briton on board'". BBC News. 12 May 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8676898.stm. Retrieved 12 May 2010. 
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18. ^ "Terrorism Ruled Out In Tripoli Plane Crash". Sky News. 12 May 2010. http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Plane-Crash-At-Libya-Tripoli-Airport-Passengers-Killed-In-Landing-Accident/Article/201005215630352?lpos=World_News_Carousel_Region_3&lid=ARTICLE_15630352_Plane_Crash_At_Libya_Tripoli_Airport%3A_Passengers_Killed_In_Landing_Accident. Retrieved 12 May 2010. 
19. ^ Nierop, Leonie: "Nóg zeven wonderen in Tripoli." nrc handelsblad. 15 May 2010. Retrieved on 16 May 2010.
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42. ^ "Anchen Dreyer se broer op doodsvlug" (in Afrikaans). Beeld. http://www.beeld.com/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/Anchen-Dreyer-se-broer-op-doodsvlug-20100512. Retrieved 12 May 2010. 
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44. ^ Pitel, Laura; Bremner, Charles (13 May 2010). "Irish author Bree O'Mara named as victim in Libyan air crash". The Times (London). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article7125194.ece. Retrieved 13 May 2010. 
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46. ^ (Arabic) "نعي (Obituary)". Afriqiyah Airways. http://liveweb.web.archive.org/http://www.afriqiyah.aero/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=69. Retrieved 13 May 2010. 

External links

• Flight Afriqiyah Airways 771 Johannesburg - Tripoli  – Afriqiyah Airways (Archive)
• "Airplane crash in Tripoli^{[dead link]}." Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands
• "Afriqiyah Airways A330 Crash." South African Civil Aviation Authority
• "Flight 8U 771 on 12 May 2010 - A 330 – 200, registered 5A-ONG." Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile