On 11 April 2018, an Ilyushin Il-76 military transport aircraft of the

Algerian Air Force The Algerian Air Force (AAF) ( ar, القُوَّاتُ الجَوِّيَّةُ الجَزَائِرِيَّةُ, links=, lit=, translit=al-Quwwāt al-Ǧawwiyyah al-Ǧazāʾiriyyah, french: Forces aériennes algériennes, links=, lit=, translit ...

crashed shortly after take-off from

Boufarik Airport Boufarik Airport is a military airport near Boufarik, Algeria. It is the home base for the Air Transport fleet of the Algerian Air Force. The based aircraft are Beechcraft 1900, EADS CASA C-295, Lockheed C-130 Hercules and Ilyushin Il-76. It h ...

Boufarik Boufarik is a town in Blida Province, Algeria, approximately 30 km from Algiers. In 2008, its population was 57,162.popul ...

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

, which is near

Blida Blida ( ar, البليدة; Tamazight: Leblida) is a city in Algeria. It is the capital of Blida Province, and it is located about 45 km south-west of Algiers, the national capital. The name ''Blida'', i.e. ''bulaydah'', is a diminutive ...

and south-west of the capital, Algiers. All 257 people on board were killed, making the accident the deadliest air crash on Algerian soil.

Aircraft

The aircraft was an

Ilyushin Il-76TD The Ilyushin Il-76 (russian: Илью́шин Ил-76; NATO reporting name: Candid) is a multi-purpose, fixed-wing, four-engine turbofan strategic airlifter designed by the Soviet Union's Ilyushin design bureau. It was first planned as a comme ...

of the

's produced by

Tashkent Aviation Production Association , type = Open joint-stock company , location = , industry = , founded = , founder = , fate = Taken over in 2015 , hq_location_city = Tashkent , hq_location_country = Uzbekistan , area_served = Asia , key_people = Isok ...

in 1994. The aircraft, registered 7T-WIV,

msn MSN (meaning Microsoft Network) is a web portal and related collection of Internet services and apps for Windows and mobile devices, provided by Microsoft and launched on August 24, 1995, alongside the release of Windows 95. The Microsoft Net ...

1043419649, had first flown in 1994.

Crash

At 07:50

local time Local time is the time observed in a specific locality. There is no canonical definition. Originally it was mean solar time, but since the introduction of time zones it is generally the time as determined by the time zone in effect, with daylight s ...

(06:50 UTC), the aircraft crashed just outside the perimeter of

Boufarik Boufarik is a town in Blida Province, Algeria, approximately 30 km from Algiers. In 2008, its population was 57,162.popul ...

, from which it had recently taken off. Witnesses reported that the wing of the aircraft had caught fire prior to the crash. The flight had a final destination of

Tindouf Airport Commandant Ferradj Airport is an airport in Tindouf, Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordin ...

Tindouf Tindouf (Berber: Tinduf, ar, تندوف) is the main town, and a commune in Tindouf Province, Algeria, close to the Mauritanian, Western Saharan and Moroccan borders. The commune has population of around 160,000 but the census and population ...

, with a stopover in

Boudghene Ben Ali Lotfi Airport Boudghene Ben Ali Lotfi Airport (french: Aéroport de Bechar "Boudghene Ben Ali Lotfi") is an airport located 5 km north of Béchar, a city in the Béchar Province of Algeria. Airlines and destinations Statistics See also *List of airp ...

Béchar Béchar ( ar, بشار) is the capital city of Béchar Province, Algeria. It is also a commune, coextensive with Béchar District, of Béchar Province. In 2008 the city had a population of 165,627, up from 134,954 in 1998, with an annual growth ...

. All 10 crew and 247 passengers on board were killed. Among the passengers were 176 members of the Algerian People's National Army. Many of these soldiers and officers were traveling with family members. Thirty Saharawi students and other civilians from the refugee camps in Tindouf were among the dead according to officials of the

Saharawi Republic Sahrawi or Saharawi (also transliterated into Spanish as or French as ), is an Arabic term meaning 'from the Sahara', or more specifically the Western Sahara. It can also mean 'from the desert' in general. Sahrawi may also refer to: People *the ...

. They had been visiting Algiers for various medical and bureaucratic reasons. Saharawis from the refugee camps are regularly provided with free flights in Algerian

military transport aircraft A military transport aircraft, military cargo aircraft or airlifter is a military-owned transport aircraft used to support military operations by airlifting troops and military equipment. Transport aircraft are crucial to maintaining supply ...

. Initial reports claimed that a senior member of the National Liberation Front, the governing party of the National Assembly in Algeria, said that 26

Polisario Front The Polisario Front, Frente Polisario, Frelisario or simply Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of (Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro), (in ar, rtl=yes, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير الس� ...

members were among the casualties. The Moroccan media in particular unanimously claimed that several Polisario Front members were among the dead; however, Algerian and Saharawi officials have since maintained that there were only 30 Saharawi civilian casualties. Local authorities dispatched fourteen ambulances, ten

fire apparatus A firefighting apparatus describes any vehicle that has been customized for use during firefighting operations. These vehicles are highly customized depending on their needs and the duty they will be performing. These duties can include firefighti ...

and 130 personnel to attend to the crash site. As a result of the crash, the road between

Boufarik Boufarik is a town in Blida Province, Algeria, approximately 30 km from Algiers. In 2008, its population was 57,162.popul ...

and

was temporarily closed to traffic.

Aftermath

Following the accident,

Abdelaziz Bouteflika Abdelaziz Bouteflika (; ar, عبد العزيز بوتفليقة, ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Būtaflīqa ; 2 March 1937 – 17 September 2021) was an Algerian politician and diplomat who served as President of Algeria from 1999 to his resignation in 2019 ...

, the

President of Algeria The president of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria is the head of state and chief executive of Algeria, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Algerian People's National Armed Forces. History of the office The Tripoli Program, whi ...

, declared three days of

national mourning A national day of mourning is a day or days marked by mourning and memorial activities observed among the majority of a country's populace. They are designated by the national government. Such days include those marking the death or funeral of ...

, echoing his reaction to the 2014 military air crash. For his part,

Brahim Ghali Brahim Ghali () ( ar, rtl=yes, إبراهيم غالي, Ibrāhīm Ġālī; es, Brahim Gali; born 16 September 1949) is a Sahrawi politician and military officer that serves as the current president of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) ...

, the

President of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic The president of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is the head of state of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), a government in exile based in the Sahrawi refugee camps of Tindouf, Algeria. From the declaration of independence on Febru ...

, declared seven days of national mourning.

Ahmed Gaid Salah Ahmed Gaid Salah ( ar, أحمد قايد صالح; 13 January 1940 – 23 December 2019) was a senior leader in the Algerian People's National Army. In 2004, he was appointed by then-President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to the position of chief of staf ...

, Chief of Staff of the Algerian Army, ordered an investigation to determine the cause of the accident. Russia stated that it would assist in the investigation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Algerian Air Force Ilyushin Il-76 crash 2018 in Algeria Accidents and incidents involving military aircraft Accidents and incidents involving the Ilyushin Il-76 Algerian Air Force April 2018 events in Africa Aviation accidents and incidents in 2018 Aviation accidents and incidents in Algeria Blida Province Algerian People's National Army 2018 disasters in Algeria