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On 22 November 2003, shortly after takeoff from Baghdad, an Airbus A300 cargo plane, operating for DHL Aviation, was struck on the left wing tip by a surface-to-air missile. Severe wing damage resulted in fire and complete loss of hydraulic flight control systems. Because outboard left wing fuel tank 1A was full at takeoff, there was no fuel-air vapour explosion. Liquid jet fuel dropped away as 1A disintegrated. Inboard fuel tank 1 was pierced and leaking.
Returning to Baghdad, the 3-person crew made an unprecedented injury-free landing of the crippled aircraft, using differential engine thrust as the only pilot input.
Paris Match Reporter Claudine Vernier-Palliez accompanied a Fedayeen commando unit on their strike mission against the DHL aircraft. (Her report translated here.)
Sara Daniel, a French weekly newsmagazine journalist claimed receipt, from an unknown source, of a video that showed insurgents, faces concealed, firing a missile at the A300. Daniel was researching a feature about Iraqi resistance groups but she disclaimed any specific knowledge of the people who carried out the attack.
