What happened
During a return flight to Germany following a scientific mission to the South Pole, a Dornier DO228 operated by the Alfred Wegener Institute was destroyed over a desert region. The aircraft was performing a flight leg from Dakar toward Lanzarote when it was intercepted and struck by a surface-to-air missile. The impact caused the plane to crash in an area situated south of Dakhla.
At the time of the incident, the aircraft was flying in formation with another Dornier DO228, known as Polar 2, which was maintaining a higher altitude. The destruction of the aircraft resulted in three fatalities, with no survivors reported among the crew members.
Findings
Investigations into the crash determined that the primary cause of the loss of the aircraft was that it was shot down by a surface-to-air missile launched by Front Polisario forces.