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1986 Sudan Airways Fokker F-27 shootdown

1986 airliner shootdown

1986 Sudan Airways Fokker F-27 shootdown

A Fokker F-27 similar to the accident aircraft
Criminal occurrence
Date	16 August 1986 (1986-08-16)
Summary	Shot-downbySPLA militants
Site	Near Malakal Airport, Malakal, South Sudan 9°34′29.94″N 31°41′22.59″E / 9.5749833°N 31.6896083°E / 9.5749833; 31.6896083
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Fokker F-27 Friendship 400M
Operator	Sudan Airways
Registration	ST-ADY
Flight origin	Malakal Airport (MAK/HSSM)
Destination	Khartoum International Airport (KRT/HSSS)
Passengers	57
Crew	3
Fatalities	60
Survivors	0

On 16 August 1986 a Sudan Airways Fokker F-27 Friendship 400M was performing a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Malakal (in present South Sudan) to KhartouminSudan, when it was shot down by the SPLA militants. All 60 people on board the aircraft were killed.^[1] As of February 2024^[update], the shootdown remains the deadliest incident involving a Fokker F-27 and the deadliest aviation incident in South Sudan.^[1]

During the Second Sudanese Civil War, on 5 August 1986, the SPLA militants announced they would shoot down all unauthorized military or civilian aircraft, claiming that the government was using them to transport soldiers and weapons.^[2] Approximately at the time of the 1986 shootdown the militants singled out one humanitarian charter company, alleging that the company had a government contract "to spy on and take aerial photographs of" rebel operations.^[2] In May 1986 the militants brought down a passenger plane, killing all 13 aboard.^[2]

The aircraft involved in the August 1986 shootdown had a serial number 10277.^[1] It made its maiden flight in 1965 and accrued a total of 25,702 airframe hours and 19,290 flight cycles.^[1]

Shortly after takeoff from Malakal the aircraft was brought down by a Soviet-made Strela 2 surface-to-air missile,^[1] fired by a Shilluk contingent of the SPLA. According to contemporary press reports, the missile was captured from the Sudanese army.^[3]