What happened
During the early stages of departure from Lubango Airport, an aircraft was struck by a surface-to-air missile while maintaining an altitude of approximately 200 feet. Following the impact, the aircraft performed a left-hand turn before losing sufficient altitude to crash. The impact resulted in a massive explosion roughly 800 meters beyond the runway threshold. The force of the collision caused the aircraft to disintegrate upon hitting the ground. There were no survivors among the 130 occupants on board.
Findings
Investigations concluded that the destruction of the aircraft was caused by a UNITA SAM-7 surface-to-air missile strike during the initial climb phase.