On 11 April 2018, an

Ilyushin Il-76 The Ilyushin Il-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 as a commercial freighter in 1967, to replace the Antonov An-1 ...

military transport aircraft of the

Algerian Air Force The Algerian Air Force (, ) is the aerial arm of the Algerian People's National Army. History The Algerian Air Force was created to support the fight of the People's National Army against the French occupying forces. It came as part of the ...

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. History On , Charles de Gaulle landed at Boufarik airport, flying in from Gibraltar. He would remain based ...

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

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

, which is near

Blida Blida () 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 of the Arabic word ''belda'', city. Ge ...

and south-west of the capital,

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

. All 257 people on board were killed, making the accident the deadliest air crash on Algerian soil. The crash is also the deadliest accident in the

African Continent Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Aircraft

The aircraft was an

Ilyushin Il-76TD The Ilyushin Il-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 as a commercial freighter in 1967, to replace the Antonov An-12. ...

of the

's 347th Strategic Transport Squadron () produced by

Tashkent Aviation Production Association Tashkent Mechanical Plant (TMZ) (), formerly Tashkent Aviation Production Association named after Valery Chkalov, V. P. Chkalov (TAPO or TAPOiCh) () is a leading high-technology company of Uzbekistan, which was originally moved from Russia to ...

. The aircraft,

registered Registered may refer to: * Registered mail, letters, packets or other postal documents considered valuable and in need of a chain of custody * Registered trademark symbol, symbol ® that provides notice that the preceding is a trademark or service ...

7T-WIV,

msn MSN is a web portal and related collection of Internet services and apps provided by Microsoft. The main webpage provides news, weather, sports, finance and other content curated from hundreds of different sources that Microsoft has partnere ...

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 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...

), 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 Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by ...

Tindouf Tindouf () is the main town, and a Communes of Algeria, commune in Tindouf Province, Algeria, close to the Algeria–Mauritania border, Mauritanian, Algeria–Western Sahara border, Western Saharan and Algeria–Morocco border, Moroccan borders. Th ...

, with a stopover in

Boudghene Ben Ali Lotfi Airport Boudghene Ben Ali Lotfi Airport () 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 airports in Algeria This is a list of airports in Alger ...

Béchar Béchar () 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 rate of 2.1% ...

. All 10 crew and 247 passengers on board were killed on the scene. Among the passengers were 176 members of the Algerian

People's National Army The People's National Army (PNA) () is the military of the Algerian republic. It is the direct successor of the National Liberation Army (ALN), the armed wing of the nationalist National Liberation Front, which fought French colonial rule du ...

. 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. 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 aircraft, military-owned transport aircraft used to support military operations by airlifting troops and military equipment. Transport aircraft are crucial to m ...

. 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 Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro (Spanish language, Spanish: ; ), better known by its acronym Polisario Front, is a Sahrawi nationalism, Sahrawi nationalist liberation movement seeking to end the occupatio ...

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 (North American English) or firefighting appliance (UK English) describes any vehicle that has been customized for use during firefighting operations. These vehicles are highly customized depending on their needs and the d ...

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 (; ; 2 March 1937 – 17 September 2021) was an Algerian politician and diplomat who served as the seventh president of Algeria from 1999 to his resignation in 2019. Before his stint as an Algerian politician, Bouteflika s ...

, 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. The current president is Abdelmadjid Tebbo ...

, declared three days of

national mourning A national day of mourning is a day, or one of several 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 deat ...

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

Brahim Ghali Brahim Ghali () (, born 19 August 1949) is a Sahrawi politician, military officer and current president of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), formerly its ambassador to Algeria and Spain. Ghali played a key role in the struggle of th ...

, the President of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, declared seven days of national mourning.

Ahmed Gaid Salah Ahmed Gaid Salah (; 13 January 1940 – 23 December 2019) was an Algerian military officer and chief of staff of the Algerian People's National Army from 2004 to 2019. In 2004, he was appointed by then-President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to the posit ...

, 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 in Africa Aviation accidents and incidents in 2018 Aviation accidents and incidents in Algeria History of Blida Province Algerian People's National Army 2018 disasters in Algeria Algeria–Morocco relations Algeria–Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic relations