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1977 Libyan Arab Airlines Tu-154 crash
	LZ-BTN, the aircraft involved, seen in May 1977, while operating for Balkan Bulgarian Airlines
Accident
Date	2 December 1977
Summary	Fuel exhaustion
Site	Near Benghazi, Libya; 32°06′16″N 20°22′14″E / 32.10456°N 20.370432°E
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Tupolev Tu-154
Operator	Libyan Arab Airlines leased from Balkan Bulgarian Airlines
Registration	LZ-BTN
Flight origin	King Abdulaziz International Airport, Saudi Arabia
Destination	Benina International Airport, Libya
Passengers	159
Crew	6
Fatalities	59
Survivors	106

On 2 December 1977, a Tupolev Tu-154 passenger jet ran out of fuel and crashed near Benghazi, Libya. A total of 59 passengers were killed.^[1]^[2]

Aircraft

The aircraft was a Tu-154A registered LZ-BTN and had its first flight in 1974.^[3] It was one of six Tu-154s to be leased by Libyan Arab Airlines from Balkan Bulgarian Airlines for that year's pilgrim flights to Mecca for the Hajj.^[3]

Accident

The aircraft took off from King Abdulaziz International Airport in Saudi Arabia on a flight to Benina International Airport in the Libyan city of Benghazi with a crew of six and 159 passengers – pilgrims returning to Libya from the Hajj – on board.^[3] Egyptian airspace was closed to Libyan aircraft at the time, necessitating an indirect route to Benghazi instead of the direct route across Egypt; the crew reportedly did not plan for the longer flight time, leaving the aircraft short of fuel.^[4] As the aircraft neared Benghazi, heavy fog blanketed the airport and the crew could not land the aircraft.^[3] After failing to locate the alternate airport, the aircraft ran out of fuel and crashed during the crew's subsequent attempt to make an emergency landing, killing 59 out of the 159 passengers.^[3]^[4]^[1]^[5]

References

^ ^a ^b "Хроника падающих Ту-154" [• Gazeta.Ru: Chronicle of falling Tu-154]. www.gazeta.ru (in Russian). 10 July 2001. Archived from the original on 14 July 2001. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
^ "Crash of a Tupolev TU-154 in Al Bayda: 59 killed". www.baaa-acro.com. B3A Aircraft Accidents Archives. Archived from the original on 9 April 2017. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Ranter, Harro. "Aviation Safety Network LZ-BTN accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation. Archived from the original on 8 April 2005. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
^ ^a ^b "FLIGHT SAFETY 1977 — a safe year for scheduled passengers". www.flightglobal.com. 21 January 1978. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
^ "Туполев Ту-154А Бортовой №: LZ-BTN" [Tupolev Tu-154A Side No.: LZ-BTN]. russianplanes.net (in Russian). Archived from the original on 18 October 2011. Retrieved 13 April 2014.