Word: uta
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...disaster had the haunting familiarity of a recurring nightmare. On Tuesday afternoon Flight 772, a DC-10 of the French airline UTA bound from Brazzaville to Paris, left the runway after its scheduled stopover in N'Djamena, the capital of Chad. Twenty minutes into the flight, Captain Georges Ravenaud radioed the airport to report that all was normal. Flight 772 was never heard from again. High above the desolate Tenere desert in neighboring Niger, the plane exploded, killing all 157 passengers and its 14- member crew. Among those aboard were seven Americans, including Bonnie Pugh, wife of the U.S. Ambassador...
...Paris, UTA chairman Rene Lapautre said a terrorist bomb "was the most probable" explanation for the crash. Hours later the Muslim terrorist group Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack. Two weeks ago, the Lebanese and French press reported that pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon have threatened action against France for reneging on an alleged 1988 deal to trade a jailed Arab terrorist for the release of three French hostages held in Lebanon. The French government denies making any deal to free the hostages beyond agreeing to restore diplomatic relations with Iran. At week's end an unknown group calling...
...UTA Flight 772, with 155 passengers and 15 crew, originated in the Congolese capital of Brazzaville and made a stopover in N'Djamena...
...UTA said that would be enough flight time to take the plane over the border into neighboring Niger. It reported no unusual weather in the area at the time...
...UTA said it believed the search focused on Niger, along the path the plane would have taken, and could involve military forces from Chad, Niger and France, which has a small force in Chad...