NOV. 11, 1983
Pro-West Angola Rebels Say They Downed Plane
AP
Pro-Western insurgents in Angola said today that they shot down an Angolan jetliner that crashed after takeoff, killing all 126 people aboard.
But the Angolan national airline said its plane appeared to have crashed because of a ''technical fault.''
The Boeing 737 crashed Tuesday just after taking off from the airport at Lubango, Angola, on a regularly scheduled flight to Luanda, the capital.
A statement from the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola said its ''special commandos'' destroyed the airliner, which it said carried Government troops.
Angola's press agency denied reports there were military recruits on the plane and said it carried ''only two soldiers.''