Was a US C-130 shot down in Chad in 1987?

I just read a really interesting post at the Aviationist. It's based on personal accounts, and classified reports, but if true is extremely interesting.

According to the post, in 1987, when tensions between Chad and Libya were high, French forces in the region may have mistakenly shot down a US C-130. According to official reports, only one aircraft was shot down during Operation Epervier, a Libyan Tu-22 on Sept 7, 1987.

According to an anonymous (I know, I know, but this could be very interesting if it can be verified) French source, on the evening of July 7, 1988 an aircraft was seen approaching Faya Largeau airport. Three Stinger missiles were fired (Chad had received Stingers in 1987, the French never used them), one hit bringing the aircraft down.

When the wreckage was found, it was identified as an American C-130. The body of a pilot was retrieved from the wreckage and returned to the embassy. Supposedly the entire incident is still classified. There were no incidents listed anywhere near there in this time frame that could be this aircraft, but I thought this might be a fun mystery for my fellow Avnerds to dig into.

theaviationist.com...

I know there were a couple of C-130's involved in gunrunning that were lost around this time frame. This is the first I've heard of this particular story, however.

Only one I know of was this one:

San Jose Mercury News (CA) - March 9, 1986 - 7A Front

Libyan-backed rebels in Chad shot down an unidentified military C-130 transport plane over the central African nation, killing or injuring all those aboard, Libya's government-run radio, monitored in London, said Saturday.

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Don't have any more information than that.

reply to post by _Del_


Hmmmm, yes, I would agree gunrunning. Then that would make the C-130 a CIA aircraft. Things have happened in Africa that even Congress is unaware of.

Guns and supplies would have been delivered to Chad security forces, so they could fight Gaddafi's forces in Chad.

reply to post by _Del_


That would make sense, and also explain why no one lists an accident around that time. There were two listed in Chad in that general time frame, but not on the date in question, and both were showing as belonging to the Chad air force.