Bucharest – Nouadhibou

On August 7, 1980 at 03:04 AM, Bucharest – Nouadhibou experienced a crash involving Tupolev TU-154, operated by TAROM - Transporturile Aeriene Române, with the event recorded near Nouadhibou Dakhlet Nouadhibou.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a lake, sea, ocean, river crash site.

178 people were known to be on board, 1 fatalities were recorded, 177 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 0.6%.

Crew on board: 16, crew fatalities: 0, passengers on board: 162, passenger fatalities: 1, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. On a night approach to Nouadhibou Airport, the crew encountered limited visibility. When the aircraft reached the decision height of 300 feet on final, a missed approach procedure was initiated when the captain thought he had a visual contact with the runway. He decided to continue the approach when the airplane contacted water and crashed into the sea less than one km short of runway threshold. A passenger was killed while 18 others were injured. The airplane was destroyed,

Aircraft reference details include registration YR-TPH, MSN 78A277, year of manufacture 1978.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 20.9127°, -17.0503°.