On Tuesday, 19 September 1989 the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 aircraft registered N54629 took off from N’Djamena International Airport at 1:13. 46 minutes later, at its cruising altitude of 35,100 ft, a bomb explosion caused UTA Flight 772 to break up over the Sahara Desert near the towns of Bilma and Ténéré in Niger. All 155 passengers and 15 crew members died.
Hidden deep within the Sahara Desert lies a haunting memorial, incredible in its scope and remote location, that serves as a tribute to the victims of UTA Flight 772. The memorial has resurfaced of late and can be viewed on Google Maps, which shows an aerial view of the site.
The memorial was established in 2007 by Les Familles de l’Attentat du DC-10 d’UTA, a group of the victims’ families, to mark the 18th anniversary of the tragedy.
