Air Thrismari Flight 133 incident
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 2 March 1993 |
| Summary | Explosion mid-flight |
| Site | Dar Al Hamma International Airport |
| Total fatalities | 214 |
| Total injuries | 0 |
| Total survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Tu-154 |
| Operator | Air Thrismari |
| Registration | AT-BJE |
| Flight origin | Michal Barayev International Airport, Gassasinia |
| Destination | Dar Al Hamma International Airport, Salamat |
| Occupants | 214 |
| Passengers | 201 |
| Crew | 13 |
| Fatalities | 214 |
| Injuries | 0 |
| Missing | 0 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Ground casualties | |
| Ground fatalities | 0 |
| Ground injuries | 0 |
The Air Thrismari Flight 133 incident occurred on March 2 1993, during a period of political instability in Salamat due to Jalil Al Kharrabi's demise.
Accident
The Air Thrismari Flight 133, whose aircraft tail number was AT-BJE, took off from Jabiyah's Michal Barayev International Airport on March 2 1993 at 15:35 UTC (11:35 local). The aircraft, a Tupolev 154, started flying in October 1984. The meteorological conditions at both airports were "good", according to the METAR archives. The airplane's destination was Dar Al Hamma International Airport, in Salamat, and the landing was planned for 19:10 UTC (18:10 local). However, while arriving at the airport, the plane exploded above the runway 34, killing all of the persons on board. The airport was shut down immediately after but it was never reopened. Further investigations confirmed that the explosion was criminal and not the result of any technical or pilot error. The AIG revendicated the attack the 4th of March, in a period of political instability marked by the start of multipartyism and the recent cancellation of the presidential elections, which could've been won by islamists. The incident had a big impact, deteriorating the Salamati-Gassasinian diplomatic relations for a moment, and alarming the goverment of the potential threat which is terrorism. One month later, the Salamati Civil War began, although some historians think that the civil war started at the moment at which the aircraft has exploded.
The Salamati police found two suspects, Abdullah Karim Al Zubairi, which was on the plane and carried all of the explosives in his bags, and Amine Sahiri, which purchased the bombs.