Accident Overview
On a flight from N'Djamena Airport to Paris-Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport, a DC-10 departed at 1313 local time. Forty-six minutes later, while cruising at 35,000 feet over Niger, the aircraft vanished from radar screens without any distress call from the crew. It was subsequently determined that the aircraft had exploded in mid-air and crashed in the desert.
Search and Wreckage
Search and rescue operations were initiated, and the wreckage was located one day later in the Ténéré Desert, approximately 650 km north of N'Djamena and northeast of the Termit Mountain Range. Debris was scattered over an area of 100 km². None of the 170 occupants survived the crash.
Investigation Findings
The official investigation determined that the accident was caused by an explosion that destroyed the aircraft. An explosive charge was placed in a container in position 13R of the forward cargo hold. The bomb consisted of pentrite, an explosive containing a powerful and highly sensitive crystalline nitric ester. The investigation commission asserted that the most plausible hypothesis is that the explosive charge was inside baggage loaded at Brazzaville Airport. Observations made shortly after the accident at Brazzaville Airport indicated that airport security measures in force at that time did not comply with ICAO standards and recommended practices (Annex 17 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation and the Civil Aviation Security Manual, DOC 8973).