ACCIDENTS: Three serious airline accidents have occurred since the last publication of ABTN. The first, on Christmas Day involved a UTA Boeing 727 carrying mostly Lebanese expatriates heading home for holidays which clipped a building at the end of the runway at the airport in Cotonou, Benin's commercial capital, before plunging into the Atlantic Ocean.
There were 22 survivors, including the captain, with 151 thought to be on board.
On 4 January a Flash Air Boeing 737-300 crashed into the sea minutes after take off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik.
All 148 passengers perished.
Last Monday (5 January) a Fokker 70 operated by Austrian Airlines came down in a field 3 kms short of Munich Airport.
There were no casualties on the aircraft, which was reported to be half full. Icing problems could be the cause of the accident.