Investigation Summary
The third and final aircraft lost at Sukhumi in three days was hit on the ground rather than in the air. As Abkhaz forces closed on the city, the airport itself came under BM-21 Grad rocket and mortar fire. The Tu-134 was loading evacuees for Tbilisi when rockets struck the apron, destroying the aircraft. The attacks ended the Georgian air bridge to Sukhumi; the city fell shortly afterwards.
Final Conclusions
The aircraft was destroyed by deliberate rocket artillery fire directed at an airport in use for civil evacuation flights. No airworthiness or crew factor was involved.
Video Analysis
No video analysis linked for this case file yet.
Interesting Facts
- 01The aircraft was destroyed on the ground during boarding, not in flight.
- 02Abkhaz forces used BM-21 Grad rocket artillery and mortar fire against the airport.
- 03The loss ended Georgian air access to Sukhumi before the city fell.
Location
NO VERIFIED COORDINATES · Coordinates were derived from the location description via the wikipedia geotag, so the marker shows the area rather than the site. No map is shown, because a marker here would imply a precision the record does not have.
Reported location: Sukhumi-Babusheri Airport, Abkhazia, Georgia