Counter Terror Gazette

Union de Transports Aeriens Flight UT 772: the Gadaffi connection

18 Apr 2011

Against the backdrop of the current seismic political uprising occurring in Libya, Daniele Klein reviews the tragic demise of UTA flight 772, the impact on the families who lost their loved ones and the extent to which Colonel Gadaffi’s regime is responsible for the tragedy that has often been unfairly eclipsed by the loss of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie. 

On 19 September 1989, a Union de Transports Aeriens (UTA) DC10 took off from Brazzaville airport in Congo, heading for Paris via N’djamena, Niger. On board flight UT 772 were 170 people, including 15 crew, of 18 nationalities, including 54 French, 48 Congolese, 25 Chadians, 9 Italians, 8 Americans, 5 Cameroonians, 4 British, 3 Democratic Congolese, 3 Canadians, 2 Central Africans, 2 Swiss, 1 Algerian, 1 Belgian, 1 Greek, 1 Moroccan and 1 Senegalese. The aircraft exploded at 13.59 above the Ténéré desert (16 54′N 11 59′E, near to the Termit Mountains), after its stop at N’Djamena.

A long and laborious inquiry, carried out by French anti-terrorist judge Jean Louis Bruguière, concluded that the regime of Libyan leader Colonel Gadaffi orchestrated the attack. To this day it remains the most deadly terrorist attack perpetrated against France. MORE ONLINE