Alas Chiricanas Flight 00901, registered 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 were killed in the bombing. Twelve of the victims were Jewish.[1] Both Panamanian and American authorities consider the bombing an unsolved crime and an act of terrorism.
 N60CZ, the aircraft involved in the accident in April 1991 at Orlando International Airport while still in service with Comair. | |
| Bombing | |
|---|---|
| Date | July 19, 1994 |
| Summary | In-flight explosion by bombing, unsolved crash |
| Site | near Enrique Adolfo Jiménez Airport Colón, Panama |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante |
| Operator | Alas Chiricanas |
| Registration | HP-1202AC |
| Flight origin | Enrique Adolfo Jiménez Airport Colón, Panama |
| Destination | Tocumen International Airport Panama City, Panama |
| Passengers | 18 |
| Crew | 3 |
| Fatalities | 21 |
| Survivors | 0 |
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.[2] Officials suspected that the incident was an act of terrorism by Hezbollah directed against Jews in part because it took place one day after the AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires, and due to an expression of support by "Ansar Allah", a Hezbollah affiliate in South America.[3][4]
In 2018, the President of Panama Juan Carlos Varela said "recent evidence" and intelligence reports "clearly show it was a terrorist attack," and that he would ask local and international authorities to reopen the investigation. The FBI have in its investigations identified the perpetrator to have been a passenger named Ali Hawa Jamal.[5]
See also
References
- ^ "Panama 1994 plane crash a 'terror' attack". BBC News. May 22, 2018. Archived from the original on March 14, 2020. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
- ^ "ALI HAWA JAMAL - DECEASED". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Archived from the original on June 10, 2023.
- ^ "Palestinian Jihadist group splits from Hezbollah". Jerusalem Post. December 6, 2012. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
- ^ Thomas, Andrew R.; Vaduva, Sebastian (2014). Global Supply Chain Security: Emerging Topics in Research, Practice and Policy. Springer. p. 48. ISBN 978-1-4939-2178-2. Archived from the original on March 22, 2024. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
- ^ "Panama says new evidence shows 1994 plane crash 'terrorist' incident". BBC News. May 22, 2018. Archived from the original on May 27, 2018. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
External links
- Acquittals in Argentine terror case cast a shadow across Panama (Archive)
- Argentine trials may shed light on Panama mystery, Eric Jackson, Panama News Online, October 17, 2001.
- "Seeking Information" page for Jamal Lya from the U. S. Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Criminal Occurrence description at the Aviation Safety Network