Alas Chiricanas Flight 00901

Alas Chiricanas Flight 00901

Accident
Date	July 19, 1994
Summary	In-flight explosion by bombing, unsolved crash
Site	near Colón, Panama
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante
Operator	Alas Chiricanas
Registration	HP-1202ACdisaster
Flight origin	Enrique Adolfo Jiménez Airport Colón, Panama
Destination	Tocumen International Airport Panama City, Panama
Passengers	18
Crew	3
Fatalities	21 (all)

Alas Chiricanas Flight 00901, registry HP-1202AC, was an Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante aircraft flying en route from Colón city to Panama City which exploded shortly after departing Enrique Adolfo Jiménez Airport, on the night of July 19, 1994. All 21 on board, including 12 Jews, were killed in the bombing. Both Panamanian and American authorities consider the bombing an unsolved crime and an act of terrorism.

The wreckage of the Bandeirante was strewn about the Santa Rita Mountains near Colón. Panamanian investigators quickly determined that the explosion had been caused by a bomb, probably detonated by a suicide bomber aboard the aircraft. Only one body was not claimed by relatives; this body is believed to be that of a man named Jamal Lya. Officials suspected that the incident was an act of terrorism directed against Jews in part because it took place one day after the AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Soon after Flight 00901 crashed, an organization using the name Ansar Allah, or "Followers of God", issued a statement expressing support for the bombing, and claiming that the attack was a suicide operation by a person with an Arab name. Later, it was determined the organization did not exist. Panamanian authorities have made no arrests in connection with the bombing; The case remains officially unsolved.

External links

• Acquittals in Argentine terror case cast a shadow across Panama
• Argentine trials may shed light on Panama mystery, Eric Jackson, Panama News Online, 17 October 2001.
• "Seeking Information" page for Jamal Lya from the U. S. Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Criminal Occurrence description at the Aviation Safety Network