LIBYA
Mediterranean Skirmishes
Libyan Arab Jamahiriyya Air Force (القوات الجوية الليبية)
NAME VICTORIES UNIT COMMENTS Khalil, Ezzedin Fadhel 1 1.
- 27 June 1980. An Itavia (Aero Transporti Italiani) DC-9-15 (I-TIGI), Flight 870, a crashed into the Tyrrhenian Sea near the island of Ustica, about 80 miles southwest of Naples. All 81 persons aboard the aircraft were killed after it experienced severe damage in flight, broke up, plummeted to the sea, and then sank into several thousand feet of water. Accident investigators concluded that it was damaged by an explosion, probably of external origin. It has been theorized that its loss was associated with a Libyan MiG-23MS Flogger, found on July 18, crashed on the northern side of Mount Sila in the Italian province of Calabria. The pilot of the Libyan aircraft was Ezzedin Fadhel Khalil.
Air-to-Air Victories
| Date | Time | Unit | Aircraft | Pilot | Weapon | Victim | Country | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27. 06. 1980 | MiG-23MS | Khalil, E. F. | DC-9-15 (I-TIGI) | Aero Transporti Italiani | Tyrrhenian Sea |
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23MS, Libyan Arab Jamahiriyya Air Force (القوات الجوية الليبية).
Reconstruction of the damage caused to the DC-9 by possible hits of two AAMs. After examining the wreckage of the aircraft, British and Swedish investigators opposed the theory according to which the it was shot down by AAMs, and instead concluded that most probable reason for the catastrophe was a bomb placed in the toilette at the rear of the aircraft. (Luigi di Stefano)
Sources & Literature
- ACIG Team: European Air-to-Air Victories, ACIG.org, http://www.acig.info/CMS/.
- Aerolinee Itavia Flight 870, WikipediA - The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerolinee_Itavia_Flight_870.
- Cooper, Tom: Libyan Wars, 1980-1989, Part 1 , ACIG.org, http://www.acig.info/CMS/.
- Gleize, Jean-Paul: Aces, http://www.igleize.fr/aces/homeaces.htm.
- Lednicer, David: Intrusions, Overflights, Shootdowns and Defections During the Cold War and Thereafter, http://myplace.frontier.com/~anneled/ColdWar.html.
- Случайные жертвы: атакованные и сбитые гражданские авиалайнеры, https://dzerginsk.by/news/2015/07/17/sluchaynye-zhertvy-atakovannye-i-sbitye-grazhdanskie-avialaynery.
