ASN Aircraft accident Learjet 35A N350JF Adwa
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Status:Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Date:Sunday 29 August 1999
Time:13:31 UTC
Type:Silhouette image of generic LJ35 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
Learjet 35A
Operator:Corporate Jets
Registration: N350JF
MSN: 35A-219
First flight: 1979
Total airframe hrs:5434
Cycles:3657
Engines: 2 Garrett TFE731-2-2B
Crew:Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Passengers:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0
Total:Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Aircraft fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:25 km (15.6 mls) S of Adwa (   Ethiopia)
Phase: En route (ENR)
Nature:Ferry/positioning
Departure airport:Luxor Airport (LXR/HELX), Egypt
Destination airport:Nairobi-Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO/HKJK), Kenya
Narrative:
Learjet N350JF was to be ferried from Naples and Luxor to Lanseria via Nairobi. An IFR flight plan was filed from Luxor to Nairobi, via Asmara, then directly over Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia, on Upper Golf 650 airway, but because of the border-crossing prohibition a second flight plan was filed via Djibouti. At 13:30 UTC the crew reported over Asmara at FL450 estimating Assab, at 14:06, then Parim, at 14:14, en route to Djibouti. Somehow, the Learjet strayed off its intended course and moved deep inside Ethiopian no-fly zone from Eritrea's airspace. Ethiopian military forces thought the plane was Eritrean and decided to shoot down the plane using an anti-aircraft battery.

Probable Cause:

Probable Cause: "While flying in a no-fly zone- a route closed by a NOTAM- N350JF was mistaken for an Eritreaian fighter aircraft with a hostile intention, and hence was hit by a missile fired by the Ethiopian Defense Force and destroyed."

Accident investigation:

cover
Investigating agency: CAA Ethiopia
Status: Investigation completed
Accident number: AI-4/99
Download report: Final report

Classification:
Shot down from the ground
Loss of control

Sources:
» Criminal Acts Against Civil Aviation 1999 / FAA, Office of Civil Aviation Security
» NTSB


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Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Luxor Airport to Nairobi-Jomo Kenyatta International Airport as the crow flies is 3017 km (1885 miles).
Accident location: Exact; as reported in the official accident report.

This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
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