A United Arab airlines (now Egyptair) Ilyushin Il-18 crashes at Aswan international Airport, killing 100 people.
The pilot radioed that everything was normal just 90 seconds before impact. Flight 869 was making a routine approach to Aswan International Airport when it suddenly plunged into the desert, killing all 100 people aboard—the deadliest aviation disaster in Egyptian history at that time. The Ilyushin Il-18, a Soviet turboprop workhorse, had been in service for only eight years. Investigators discovered the crew had become disoriented during the night landing, misreading their altitude by over 1,000 feet. The crash didn't just claim lives—it exposed how rapidly Egypt's aviation industry had expanded after the 1967 war, training pilots faster than they could gain experience. Sometimes routine becomes fatal when nobody questions the instruments.
March 20, 1969
57 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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