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November 28, 2002, Mombasa, Kenya. Al-Qaeda-linked terrorists fire two SA–7 missiles at an Arkia Airlines Boeing 757–3E7 on takeoff. Both missiles miss their targets.
March 23, 2007, Mogadishu, Somalia. A Transaviaexport IL–76TD cargo plane crashes on takeoff after being shot by two SA–18 missiles fired by Hizbul Shabaab.
December 26, 1998, Huambo, Angola. A U.N.-chartered Lockheed C–130 Hercules transport is shot down by UNITA forces.
January 2, 1999, Huambo, Angola. A U.N. Transafrik Lockheed L–100–30 Hercules transport plane is shot down by UNITA forces on takeoff.
September 3, 1978, Kariba, Zimbabwe. An Air Rhodesia Vickers 782D Viscount passenger airliner crash-lands after being hit by an SA–7 missile fired by forces from the Zimbabwe Peoples Revolution Army (ZIPRA). Four crew members and 34 of the 56 passengers are killed.
February 12, 1979, Kariba, Zimbabwe. ZIPRA rebels strike an Air Rhodesia Vickers 782D Viscount passenger airliner with an SA-7. All 59 passengers are killed.
August 11, 1983, Lubango, Angola. An Angola Airlines Boeing 737–2M2 passenger airliner crashes on takeoff. Rebels belonging to the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) claim responsibility for firing the missile that downed the aircraft. The Angolan government blames the crash on a mechanical problem.
August 16, 1986, Malakal, Sudan. The Sudan People’s Liberation Army fires an SA–7 that downs a Sudan Airways Fokker F–27 shortly after takeoff.
December 8, 1988, Western Sahara. Two Douglas DC–7 aircraft chartered by the U.S. Agency for International Development, en route from Senegal to Morocco, are hit by SA–7s fired by POLISARIO militants. One crashes, killing all on board. The other lands safely in Morocco.
April 6, 1994, Kigali, Rwanda. A Dassault Mystère-Falcon 50 executive jet carrying the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi and a French flight crew is shot down over Kigali. All on board are killed, sparking massive ethnic violence that resulted in the Rwandan genocide.
October 10, 1998, Kindu, Democratic Republic of Congo. A Boeing 727–30 Lignes Aeriennes Congolaises airliner is shot down by a possible SA–7 missile fired by Tutsi militia.
December 15, 1998, Angola. A missile strikes an AN-12 transport aircraft en route to Luanda.
Sources: Small Arms Survey, “Man-Portable Air Defence Systems (MANPADS),” Research Notes, January 2011, http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/ H-Research_Notes/SAS-Research-Note-1.pdf (accessed October 1, 2012), and U.S. Department of State, “MANPADS: Combating the Threat to Global Aviation from Man-Portable Air Defense Systems,” July 27, 2011, http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/fs/169139.htm (accessed October 3, 2012).
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