Malév Flight 240
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2012) |
.jpg) HA-LCI seen at an unidentifed Russian airport in 1975. | |
| Occurrence | |
|---|---|
| Date | 30 September 1975 |
| Summary | Unknown |
| Site | Mediterranean Sea near Beirut, Lebanon |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Tupolev Tu-154B |
| Operator | Malév |
| Registration | HA-LCI |
| Flight origin | Budapest Ferihegy Int'l Airport |
| Destination | Beirut International Airport |
| Passengers | 50 |
| Crew | 10 |
| Fatalities | 60 (all) |
| Survivors | 0 |
Malév Flight 240 was a Tupolev Tu-154 tri-motor jetliner of Malév Hungarian Airlines, which was flying on the Budapest to Beirut regular route when it crashed near the Lebanese shoreline on 30 September 1975. All 50 passengers and 10 crew on board died. No official statement was ever made on the crash and its cause has never been publicly revealed.[1]
In recent years, rumors persist that the plane was shot down, either because it carried arms to some Arab group, or because it was supposed to carry the members of a PLO delegation (but in the end did not).
On 27 September 2007, György Szilvásy, then Minister of Civil Intelligence Services wrote in a letter[2] to Róbert Répássy (Fidesz), member of the Hungarian Parliament, that the Hungarian Office of National Security produced a report on the crash in 2003. The report can be summarized as follows: There are no available original (secret service) documents concerning the case. The report remains top secret, for reasons not connected to the crash. Dutch television aired a piece on the incident in December 2008[3] On 6 January 2009 questions relating to this crash were put forward to the European Commission.[4]
Fatalities
All the passengers and crew were killed in the incident. Most of the passengers were Hungarians and Lebanese, two Finnish Nationals, a Dutchman and others.
| Nationality | Passengers | Crew | Ground | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Netherlands |
1 | - | - | 1 | |||||
 Finland |
2 | - | - | 2 | Total | 100 | 9 | 4 | 113 |
References
- ^ The Lost Flight – Malév 240 Airliners.net
- ^ Szilvásy's letter (in Hungarian)
- ^ https://www.ntr.nl/player?id=NPS_1099780&ssid=203
- ^ Written question to EU Commission
External links
- Accident Synopsis » 09301975, Airdisaster.com
- An article[permanent dead link] of the Hungarian weekly Hetek.
- A harminc évvel ezelőtti Malév-katasztrófa titka
- The Lost Malev (limited content, and currently in Dutch only)
- Aviation accidents and incidents in Lebanon
- Aviation accidents and incidents in 1975
- 1975 in Lebanon
- Accidents and incidents involving the Tupolev Tu-154
- Airliner accidents and incidents with an unknown cause
- Malév Hungarian Airlines accidents and incidents
- Conspiracy theories involving aviation incidents
- September 1975 events