ASN Aircraft accident Airbus A320-214 5A-ONB Malta-Luqa Airport (MLA)
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Status:5
Date:Friday 23 December 2016
Type:Silhouette image of generic A320 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
Airbus A320-214
Operator:Afriqiyah Airways
Registration: 5A-ONB
MSN: 3236
First flight: 2007-08-29 (9 years 4 months)
Engines: 2 CFMI CFM56-5B4/P
Crew:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 7
Passengers:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 111
Total:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 118
Aircraft damage: None
Location:Malta-Luqa Airport (MLA) (   Malta)
Phase: En route (ENR)
Nature:Domestic Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport:Sebha Airport (SEB/HLLS), Libya
Destination airport:Tripoli International Airport (TIP/HLLT), Libya
Flightnumber:8U209
Narrative:
Afriqiyah Airways flight 209, an Airbus A320, was en route from Sebha to Tripoli, Libya when it was hijacked. Two hijackers, claiming to be armed with a hand grenade, demanded to be flown to Malta.
The aircraft landed on Malta-Luqa Airport's runway 31 at 11:32 local time and taxied onto runway 23. The aircraft stopped near the end of runway 23.
At 13:50 local time the hijackers began releasing passengers. At the end of the afternoon both hijackers surrendered.
The hijackers reportedly tried to draw attention to a new Libyan political party in favor of the former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

In December 2020, one of the hijackers was sentenced to a jail time of 25 years.

Classification:
Hijack

Sources:
» Times of Malta
» Flightradar24


Photos

photo of Airbus-A320-214-5A-ONB
 

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 Sebha Airport to Tripoli International Airport as the crow flies is 640 km (400 miles).
Accident location: Approximate; accuracy within a few kilometers.

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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