Sterling Airways Flight 296
A Sterling Airways Caravelle 10B3 similar to the accident aircraft | |
| Occurrence | |
|---|---|
| Date | 14 March 1972 |
| Summary | Controlled flight into terrain, pilot error |
| Site | |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle 10B3 |
| Operator | Sterling Airways |
| Call sign | STERLING 296 |
| Registration | OY-STL |
| Flight origin | Colombo International Airport, Colombo, Ceylon |
| 1st stopover | Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Bombay, India |
| 2nd stopover | Dubai Airport, Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
| Last stopover | Esenboğa International Airport, Ankara, Turkey |
| Destination | Copenhagen Airport, Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Occupants | 112 |
| Passengers | 106 |
| Crew | 6 |
| Fatalities | 112 |
| Survivors | 0 |
On 14 March 1972, Sterling Airways Flight 296 crashed into a mountain ridge on approach to Dubai in Al Hail, Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. Flight 296 was a charter flight from Colombo to Copenhagen with stops in Bombay, Dubai, and Ankara. All 112 passengers and crew on board died in the crash which was attributed to pilot error. The flight was operated by a Sud Aviation Caravelle, registration OY-STL. To date, it is the deadliest air disaster to involve a Caravelle and the deadliest air disaster in history in United Arab Emirates along with Gulf Air Flight 771 which also killed 112.