Ripped Apart At 35,000ft – UTA Flight 772 | The Ténéré Tragedy

Описание: 36 years ago, the Ténéré Desert became the scene of a devastating tragedy. On September 19, 1989, UTA Flight 772 vanished from the skies over the Sahara — only 46 minutes after departing from N’Djamena, Chad, on its way to Paris. When French military teams finally located the charred wreckage of the Douglas DC-10, scattered across 80 square kilometers of desert, the world could hardly imagine the circumstances and geopolitical ties that had led to this disaster. Nearly two decades of extensive investigations would uncover a series of disturbing findings and reveal connections to other tragic events of that time — connections that ultimately explained how a 172-ton airliner was torn apart in mid-air. We want to take you back to that fateful day when all 170 people on board lost their lives — back to a time when this was the second deadliest aviation disaster of 1989.

What happened on that day? Why did the aircraft disintegrate at cruising altitude on a flight that seemed completely routine? Was it an accident, or a deliberate act of murder? And how was UTA 772 connected to the Lockerbie Bombing a year earlier? In this documentary, we reconstruct the tragic final flight of UTA 772, trace the painstaking investigation that followed, and shed light on the shocking revelations that emerged.

A little over a month after the 36th anniversary of this tragic loss of life, we remember the 170 souls lost in the endless sands of the Ténéré Desert. May this tragedy never be forgotten, and may we continue to learn from their sacrifice.

“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
— Psalm 23:4
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Sources and important background information:

Final Investigation Report „English Version“:
https://web.archive.org/web/200011200...
Final Investigation Report „French Version“:
https://asn.flightsafety.org/reports/...

If you want to learn more about the families of the victims and their incredible effort of traveling to the crash site and building a breathtaking memorial you can browse through their page. Images and stories (in French) can be found here:
https://www.dc10-uta.org/

Other great sources for research of the Ténéré Disaster:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTA_Fli...
https://beyondgoodbye.co.uk/continuin...
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/U...

One of the key figures in the long pursuit of justice was lawyer Stuart H. Newberger.He traveled across the globe, met countless influential people, and spent 19 years dedicated to achieving some measure of justice for the victims of UTA Flight 772.
Mr. Newberger later wrote a book titled “The Forgotten Flight” (published May 25, 2017), which offers a unique lawyer’s perspective on the case and provides remarkable insight into the complex legal process behind it. His work served as a valuable source of information for this documentary — containing details and background that can’t be found on Wikipedia or even in the official BEA accident reports. You can find his book, The Forgotten Flight, available on Amazon, both in print and as an e-book.

Passenger & Crew list can be found on the homepage of the French embassy in Chad:
https://td.ambafrance.org/spip.php?pa...

We also cover many more aviation accidents on our Substack page. There are many articles for you to read. Feel free to visit us there too: https://blackboxarchive.substack.com