Date:	Wednesday 6 October 1976
Time:	17:24
Type:	Douglas DC-8-43
Owner/operator:	Cubana de Aviación
Registration:	CU-T1201
MSN:	45611/127
Year of manufacture:	1961
Engine model:	Rolls-Royce Conway 508-12
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 73 / Occupants: 73
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	UI
Location:	8 km W off Bridgetown International Airport (BGI) -   Barbados
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Passenger - Scheduled
Departure airport:	Bridgetown-Grantley Adams International Airport (BGI/TBPB)
Destination airport:	Kingston-Norman Manley International Airport (KIN/MKJP)

Narrative:
At 17:15 Flight 455 took off from Bridgetown runway 09, heading for Kingston. Nine minutes later, the crew tried to turn back to Barbados due to an explosion. The DC-8 lost height rapidly and crashed in a nose down, right wing low attitude into the sea, 5 miles offshore.

PROBABLE CAUSE: "The detonation of an explosive device at the rear of the cabin which initiated an uncontrollable fire producing toxic gases resulting in eventual incapacitation of the pilots."

Aircraft hijackings and other criminal acts against civil aviation : statistics and narrative reports / FAA

photo (c) Pedro de la Cruz, via Werner Fischdick; Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD); May 1976

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