What happened
During a period of military deployment in Cyprus following the Turkish invasion, a Greek military aircraft operating under the callsign 'Niki 4' was lost during a nighttime approach to Nicosia Airport. As the aircraft was descending toward the airfield, it was struck by surface-to-air fire originating from Greek troops stationed near the airport perimeter.
The impact caused the plane to crash approximately 3 km before reaching the runway, where it subsequently erupted in flames. The accident resulted in 31 fatalities and one injury among the occupants on board.
Findings
Investigations into the crash determined that the aircraft was mistakenly shot down by friendly ground fire from Greek soldiers positioned at the airport.