In September, 1993, three Tupolev civilian airliners belonging to Transair Georgia were hit by missiles fired by rebels in Sukhumi, Abkhazia, Georgia. A total of 136 perished in the attacks.
21 September[]
A Tu-134 aircraft flying from Sochi was hit on approach to Sukhumi-Babusheri Airport by a surface-to-air missile. The plane crashed into the Black Sea, killing all five crew members and 22 passengers.[1]
22 September[]
Another plane (Tu-154) flying from Tbilisi (and reportedly carrying Georgian soldiers[2]) was shot down while attempting to land at the Sukhumi airport and crashed on the runway, killing 108 of the 132 people on board.[3]
23 September[]
Passengers were boarding an aircraft at Sukhumi when it was struck by mortar or artillery fire from the rebels. It caught fire and burned out, leaving one crew member dead.[4]
References[]
- ↑ Criminal Occurrence description for September 21 shootdown at the Aviation Safety Network
- ↑ Mihail Zhirohov, Авиация в абхазском конфликте (Aviation in the Abkhazian conflict) (Russian)
- ↑ Criminal Occurrence description for September 22 shootdown at the Aviation Safety Network
- ↑ Criminal Occurrence description for September 23 fire at the Aviation Safety Network
The original article can be found at Transair Georgia airliner shootdowns and the edit history here.