DHL Airbus 300 hit by missile at Baghdad Airport

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Comet
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Post by Comet »

Looks like I missed something interesting earlier!!

The news about this incident is very sparse here in the UK, our text news says very little, nothing about where the aircraft was going etc, and our TV news reports are taken up with the rugby world cup!! Is this aircraft definitely carrying Icelandic registration?
Sabena and Sobelair - gone but never forgotten.
Louise

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sn26567
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Post by sn26567 »

There was an excellent 5-second film showing the fire on the left engine in the RTBF TV news yesterday night. But difficult to say which aircraft it was.

This picture from CNN might come from the same film:
Image
André
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luchtzak
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Post by luchtzak »

8O wow !! 8O Stunning image! Would like to see the movie for sure! Anyone who can get the movie so I can upload in the downloads-area with the rest of the movies :lol:

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luchtzak
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Post by luchtzak »

André,

do you remember that you wrote this article: https://www.aviation24.be/article1738.html ?

So the assault must have happened when performing this kind of approach ...

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Avro
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Post by Avro »

Indeed it's a stunning image. I also saw the fim on RTBF news yesterday 8O

Ciao
Chris
8)

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L-1011
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Post by L-1011 »

Does anyone know what DHL decided :?:
Do they continue or do they completely stop to serve Bagdad ?

I suppose economically it's interesting to continue, but if they want nobody to get hurt perhaps they should stop.


ciao,
TriStar :cry:

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luchtzak
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Post by luchtzak »

I heard that DHL would discontinue all scheduled flights to Baghdad Airport until further notice.

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sn26567
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Post by sn26567 »

DHL decided indeed to suspend flights to Baghdad, but anyway the US-led coalition in Iraq is now prohibiting all civilian flights to Baghdad, i.e. DHL and Royal Jordanian.

Apparently two SAM-7 missiles were fired, like these:
Image
André
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SN30952
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Why SAM?

Post by SN30952 »

sn26567 wrote:Apparently two SAM-7 missiles were fired
Yes, why Sam?
Because SAM means: Surface-to-Air Missile (Sam) launcher, it is a tail-chasing missile - one that can only be fired from behind its target.
Planes from most airports around the world leave the airport's perimeter fences at an altitude that makes them vulnerable. See why:
Image

Sam 7 Stela-2 launcher
................................Strela-2 (SA 7a) Strela-2M (SA 7b)
Max range.................3,200 metres...........4,200 metres
Min range................... 800 metres.......... 800 metres
Max altitude............. 2,000 metres........... 2,000 metres
Min altitude................... 50 metres......... 30-50 metres
Max speed of target......... 792 km/h........... 936 km/h
Max speed of missile...... 1386 km/h........... 2088 km/h
Operator......................... 1 person................1 person

The Strela-2 was widely copied and manufactured in Bulgaria, China, Egypt, Hungary, North Korea and Pakistan among other countries.

Shoulder-launched Sams in general can be launched from up to six kilometres.

One of the most famous stories of aircraft hit by a SAM was an Air Rhodesia Viscount "Umniati".
Air Rhodesia flt 827, a Vickers 748D Viscount (VP-YND C/n: 101 Year built: 1956) left Kariba Airport (KAB) on FEB12, 1979.
Shortly after departing Kariba, it was hit in the jet pipe of the inner port engine by a SAM-7 missile, burst into flames and crashed out of control into a ravine in the Vuti African Purchase Area.
Crew: 5 fatalities / 5 on board; Passengers: 54 fatalities / 54 on board; Total: 59 fatalities / 59 on board.
Location: near Kariba (Rhodesia) Phase: Climb

The same guys downed: Air Rhodesia flt 825 a Vickers 782D Viscount (VP-WAS C/n: 297 Year built: 1958) the "Hunyani"
Hunyani took off from Kariba Airport at 17.10h on Sep 03, 1978. Shortly after departing Kariba, the starboard wing was hit by a SAM-7 missile. An emergency descent was carried out and the crew tried to make an emergency landing in a large clearing in the bush. The aircraft crash-landed, striking an irrigation ditch, cart-wheeled, broke up and caught fire.
Crew: 4 fatalities / 4 on board; Passengers: 34 fatalities / 52 on board; Total: 38 fatalities / 56 on board; Location: Whamira Hills (Rhodesia) Phase: Climb
Both filghts were bound for Salisbury (as it was called at that time)

Who did it?
Fighters from Joshua Nkomo's Zimbabwe Peoples Revolution Army (ZIPRA), responsible for shooting down both airliner. These guys later they killed 10 of the 18 survivors. The rest of the survivors of the "Hunyani" were rescued the next day.

In 1979* Air Rhodesia was renamed Air Zimbabwe Rhodesia, in 1980 the airline became Air Zimbabwe.

*That year was also the end of the terrorist attacks.

Sorry I forgot to mention: Air Rhodesia = RH

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Post by luchtzak »

Exclusive pictures of the DHL Airbus 300 can be seen via this link: https://www.aviation24.be/article2078.html

Note: received via anonymous e-mail.

Those pilots have been really lucky! You can clearly see the landing-gear doors sticking out, this means that they used the emergency landing-gear as they lost all hydraulic pressure!

greetz,

Bart
:rock:

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luchtzak
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Post by luchtzak »

Just found an amazing article: Missile attack filmed by militants

A VIDEO showing a masked militant firing the missile that hit a DHL civilian cargo jet over Baghdad, setting its engine ablaze in the first successful hit on a plane of the seven-month-old insurgency, has been delivered to a French journalist.

Image

The six-minute-long footage was received by Sara Daniel, correspondent of Paris-based weekly Le Nouvel Observateur. It shows 10 militants, their faces concealed by chequered keffiyeh headdresses or white scarves, carrying out the attack from scrubland south of the capital.

The shoulder-launched missile is seen shooting up into the sky after being fired by one of the cell and then homing in on the Airbus-300 freighter.

The vapour trail makes a sharp U-turn as the missile homes in on the infra-red or radio signals from the scheduled Baghdad to Dubai courier flight.

The militants are then seen making their get-away in a car. The 11th militant who presumably shot the footage films his own lap in his haste to get into the vehicle.

After a break, the video resumes with footage of the stricken airliner diving back down to Baghdad airport, in clearly amateur footage shot through electricity lines.

The men, clad in flowing black abayas or camouflage fatigues, carry rocket-propelled grenade launchers or Kalashnikovs as well as two portable missile launchers.

Only one missile is seen fired.

Before the firing, a US army helicopter is seen hovering in the middle distance, but the militants have clearly chosen their target and leave the military aircraft alone.

Tall grass partially obstructs the view of the chopper. It is unclear whether it is the undergrowth that prevents the soldiers aboard from spotting the militants, or the three cars they have parked on a dusty path, as they ready their strike.

The missile launcher is an SA-14 Gremlin, not an SA-7 Grail as initially reported by the US military.

Both are made by Russian firm Strela but the Gremlin is heavier, weighing in at 16kg, compared with the 9.15kg of the Grail.

The SA-14 has a range of 2000m when used against an approaching jet, although this is extended to 4500m when used against a helicopter or propeller-driven aircraft.

Ms Daniel said the video had been left at her hotel Sunday. She said had no idea why she had been chosen among the hundreds of other journalists covering the persistent insurgency that has dogged the US-led occupation.

"I have been working on a feature on the various resistance groups for several weeks. I've no idea who these people are who carried out this attack but maybe they had heard of me through the others I have met while researching my piece," she said.

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sn26567
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Post by sn26567 »

Absolutely fantastic pictures and report, Bart. They also show the reliabilty of the A300: flying with a part of the wing ripped of is all but a sinecure. The pix also show clearly the OO-DLL registration.

Thanks to the anonymous submitter.
André
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Avro
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Post by Avro »

Incredible pictures 8O

Many thanks to the anonymous sender :wink:

Chris
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BlackEyedB747
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Post by BlackEyedB747 »

here is a nice example that it is not save enough to fly to baghdad maybe they should wait a little longer to start flights to that destination because tomorrow an other plane can be shot down with innocent people onboard
:? :cry:


Grtz,

Nico

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744rules
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Post by 744rules »

The "cork procedure" is to climb in spiral up to 18000ft and level off. While performing the first turn, the a/c was hit. The crew then "spiraled" down and landed the a/c with no hydraulics (no brakes, no nose wheel steering).

Their luck :!: was that the a/c was hit during take-off. This means full fuel tanks. Empty fueltanks mean vapours and thus possible explosion.

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Post by L-1011 »

They were very lucky not to have the leading edge struck :!:!
Damage is clearly constrained to the aft part of the wing which is why Lima Lima safely landed.

As 744rules said they were also saved by their full tnaks. It's incredible but it's like that.


Do you know if DLL is w/o or if a repair could be done? Of course if it had happened somewhere with the correct infrastructure, because in Bagdad all they probably can do is scrapping. I doubt the american military has civil repair capability.
I hope DHL has all the insurance, 'cause such a beauty is worth a lot of money.


Anyway, as I have a special story going on with OO-DLL's oldest living brother (c/n 003), I really got attached to those 300's. Hope it'll fly again someday.


ciao,
TriStar :cry:

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sn26567
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Post by sn26567 »

Have Sabena Technics been approached to fly to Baghdad with the spare parts to repair DLL? ;-)
André
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Dustbiter
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Post by Dustbiter »

In case you didn't know yet.... It's definately the OO-DLL
Saw 25 Pictures this morning...

Greetings,

Dustbiter

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Avro
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Post by Avro »

For those who want to know more about that plane:

OO-DLL A300B4-203F
S/N 093
MfrDate: 18/10/1979
Previous Operators: Malaysia and Carnival
Previous registrations: 9M-MHB and N225KW
Engines: CF6-50C2
MTOW(LBS): 165000
Tanks (US Gal.): 10515

Greetz
Chris
8)

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Post by sabena4ever »

sn26567 wrote :"Have Sabena Technics been approached to fly to Baghdad with the spare parts to repair DLL?"

Hi
I heard on sunday from a guy who work at Sabena technics that the A300 DHL (oo-dll)was out of service, destroyed, and beyond repair.

Have a nice evening
ciaoooo d
sabena4ever

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