What happened
On the morning of the accident, a twin engine aircraft departed from Hamada al Hamra Airport at 07:05 local time. The flight was scheduled to travel to Tripoli and was carrying a total of 14 people, including two pilots and 12 employees representing the Halliburton Company and the Arabian Gulf Oil Company.
Shortly after the departure, air traffic controllers directed the crew to return to the airport due to ongoing military operations along the intended flight path. During this period, visibility at Hamada al Hamra Airport decreased significantly because of fog. After performing a brief holding pattern, the crew initiated an approach to land.
During the short final phase of the landing, the aircraft collided with a wooden electrical pylon and a concrete pipeline bridge. The impact caused the plane to crash several hundred meters before reaching the runway, where it subsequently caught fire. The accident resulted in 14 fatalities and the total destruction of the aircraft.
Findings
Investigations into the crash suggest that the pilot-in-command may have experienced an optical illusion while on short final, which led to the mistaken belief that the concrete pipeline bridge was the runway.