Middle East Airlines Flight 438


Middle East Airlines Flight 438 a Boeing 720B, callsign CEDAR JET 438, was an international passenger flight from Beirut, Lebanon to Muscat, Oman, with a stopover in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. On 1 January 1976 the aircraft operating the flight was destroyed by a bomb, killing all 81 people on board. The bombers were never identified.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was a Boeing 720-023B. Its first flight was on 23 September 1960. The aircraft was registered as N7534A and was delivered to American Airlines on 10 October the same year and received flight number 534. In July 1971, American Airlines sold the aircraft for repair. On 3 March 1972, the aircraft was sold to Middle East Airlines where it was re-registered as OD-AFT. The aircraft was powered by four Pratt & Whitney JT3D-1-MC7 turbofan engines with water cooling and a thrust of 17,000 pounds each.

Bombing

Flight ME438 was an international passenger flight from Beirut, Lebanon to Muscat, Oman, with a stopover in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. With 15 crew members and 66 passengers on board, flight 438 departed from Beirut. In the predawn twilight, the airliner was en route from Beirut to Dubai when at 05:30, 1 hour and 40 minutes after departure, a bomb exploded in the front section of the cargo hold. The aircraft broke up at an altitude of and crashed 37 km northwest of Al Qaysumah, Saudi Arabia. The crash was the deadliest aviation disaster to occur in Saudi Arabia at the time, and is now the sixth-deadliest. It is also the second-deadliest aviation disaster involving the Boeing 720, behind Pakistan International Airlines Flight 705.

Investigation

According to several reports, the bomb was planted on board by Omani militants. At the same time, the bomb timer was set so that the bomb exploded after landing at Muscat airport, that is, the killing of passengers was not the goal of the militants. Flight 438 was originally going to be operated using a Boeing 747, but a technical malfunction was revealed, requiring the Boeing 720 to be used instead. Boarding and baggage loading delayed the flight, causing the bomb to explode early while the aircraft was still cruising.