Transair Georgia airliner shootdowns

Transair Georgia airliner shootdowns

Occurrence summary
Date	21–22 September 1993
Summary	Shoot down
Site	Georgia, Black Sea
Total injuries (non-fatal)	?
Total fatalities	135
Total survivors	24
First aircraft
The crashed aircraft in Aeroflot livery
Type	Tupolev Tu-134 A-3
Operator	Transair Georgia
Registration	CCCP-65893
Flight origin	Sochi Airport
Destination	Sukhumi-Babusheri Airport
Passengers	22
Crew	5
Fatalities	27 (all)
Survivors	0
Second aircraft
The crashed aircraft in Aeroflot livery
Type	Tupolev Tu-154 B-2
Operator	Transair Georgia
Registration	4L-85163
Flight origin	Tbilisi
Destination	Sukhumi-Babusheri Airport
Passengers	120
Crew	12
Injuries (non-fatal)	?
Fatalities	108
Survivors	24

In September, 1993, three Tupolev civilian airliners belonging to Transair Georgia were hit by missiles allegedly fired by Russian-supported separatists in Sukhumi, Abkhazia, Georgia. A total of 136 people perished in the attacks.

21 September

A Tu-134 aircraft flying from Sochi was hit on approach to Sukhumi-Babusheri Airport by a surface-to-air missile. The plane crashed into the Black Sea, killing all five crew members and 22 passengers.^[1]

22 September

Another plane (Tu-154) flying from Tbilisi (and reportedly carrying Georgian soldiers^[2]) was shot down while attempting to land at the Sukhumi airport and crashed on the runway, killing 108 of the 132 people on board.^[3]

23 September

Passengers were boarding an aircraft at Sukhumi when it was struck by mortar or artillery fire from the rebels. It caught fire and burned out, leaving one crew member dead.^[4]

References

1. Criminal Occurrence description for September 21 shootdown at the Aviation Safety Network
2. Mihail Zhirohov, Авиация в абхазском конфликте (Aviation in the Abkhazian conflict) (Russian)
3. Criminal Occurrence description for September 22 shootdown at the Aviation Safety Network
4. Criminal Occurrence description for September 23 fire at the Aviation Safety Network