Flight 141 was flown on 3X-GDM, a Boeing 727-223, on the day of the crash. The airliner had begun its flight in Guinea and stopped in Sierra Leone and Benin on its way to Lebanon. Many of the passengers were workers who were flying back home to Lebanon to enjoy the holidays with their families.
Initial reports pointed to the possibility that the airplane might have clipped a building with one of its wings upon take-off, causing it to lose balance and go into an uncontrollable free-fall.
Some newspaper reports have led many to suspect that the airplane used for this flight was, in fact, an airplane that had disappeared about one year earlier, after being flown to Africa by an American pilot, Ben Charles Padilla.
The airliner had begun its flight in Guinea and stopped in Sierra Leone and Benin on its way to Lebanon via Libya.
Some newspaper reports have led many to suspect that the airplane used for this flight was, in fact, an airplane that had disappeared about one year earlier, along with flight engineer and aircraft "repo man" Ben Charles Padilla.
On December 25, UTAFlight141 departed Conakry, Guinea for a scheduled flight to Beirut, Lebanon with a planned intermediate stop at Cotonou, Benin and a planned technical stop at Kufrah, Libya.
The co-pilot was discussing his concerns with the UTA executives, reminding them of the importance of determining the precise weight of the loading of the airplane.
As the roll was beginning, a flight attendant informed the cockpit that passengers who wanted to sit near their friends were still standing and did not want to sit down.
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