Background
Flight 322 was a scheduled domestic flight from Cairo to Aswan and return with an intermediate stop at Luxor. The sectors Cairo–Luxor, Luxor–Aswan, and Aswan–Luxor were uneventful.
Accident Sequence
At 1128 hours, the aircraft was ready for the last sector Luxor–Cairo. At 1130 hours, it entered the second taxiway to Runway 20 at Luxor and was cleared for take-off. Instead of back-tracking on Runway 20, the pilot took off directly from the point he entered the runway, approximately 400 m from its threshold. During the take-off run, the pilot-in-command and co-pilot saw a camel entering the runway from east to west approximately 700 m in front of them. The aircraft's speed was about 160 km/h. To avoid a collision, the pilot-in-command deviated slightly to the right and took off as soon as possible; however, the right wheel struck the camel while the aircraft was about 2 m above the ground. The right landing gear bracing was broken by the impact. Several attempts to retract the undercarriage were made, but the right gear could not be retracted while the left and nose gears were locked in the up position.
Aftermath
The pilot-in-command decided to complete the flight and carry out a wheels-up landing at Cairo Airport, where more ground facilities were available. The aircraft landed wheels up at 1402 hours on a sand strip to the right of Runway 34 at Cairo Airport. There were no injuries among the 43 occupants, but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.