Background.

On 10 May 1940, Germany launched Fall Gelb (i.e., the "Plan Yellow"), an invasion of the Low Countries. By attacking through the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium, the German Oberkommando der Wehrmacht believed that German forces could outflank the Maginot Line and then advance through southern Belgium and into northern France, cutting off the British Expeditionary Force and a large part of the French forces and forcing the French government to surrender. To gain access to northern France, German forces would have to defeat the armed forces of the Low Countries and either bypass or neutralize several defensive positions, primarily in Belgium and the Netherlands. Some of these defensive positions were only lightly defended and intended more as delaying positions than true defensive lines designed to stop an enemy attack.  However, some defences were of a more permanent nature, possessed considerable fortifications and were garrisoned by significant numbers of troops. The Grebbe-Peel Line in the Netherlands, which stretched from the southern shore of the Zuiderzee to the Belgian border near Weert, had many fortifications combined with natural obstacles, such as marsh-lands and the Geld Valley, which could easily be flooded to impede an attack. The main Belgian defensive line, the K-W Line (also known as the Dyle or Dijl Line), along the River Dyle, protected the port of Antwerp and the Belgian capital, Brussels. Between the K-W Line and the border was a delaying line along the Albert Canal. This delaying line was protected by forward positions manned by troops, except in a single area where the canal ran close to the Dutch border, which was known as the "Maastricht Appendix" due to the proximity of the Dutch city of Maastricht. There the Belgian military could not build forward positions due to the proximity of the border, and instead assigned an infantry division to guard the three bridges over the canal in the area, a brigade being assigned to each bridge. The bridges were defended by blockhouses equipped with machine-guns. Artillery support was provided by Fort Eben-Emael, whose artillery pieces covered two of the bridges.  The German High Command became aware of the defensive plan, which called for Belgian forces to briefly hold the delaying positions along the Albert Canal and then retreat to link up with British and French forces on the K-W Line. The Germans developed a strategy that would disrupt this plan, by seizing the three bridges in the "Maastricht Appendix", as well as other bridges in Belgium and the Netherlands. This would allow their own forces to breach the defensive positions and advance into the Netherlands.

Prelude.

Belgian Preparation.

The Belgian 7th Infantry Division was assigned to guard the three bridges over the canal, supplementing the troops who garrisoned Fort Eben-Emael at the time of the battle. The defences for each bridge consisted of four large concrete pillboxes on the western side of the canal, three equipped with machine-guns and a fourth with an anti-tank gun; the bunker containing the anti-tank gun was positioned close to the road leading from the bridge, with one machinegun-equipped bunker immediately behind the bridge and two others flanking the bridge a short distance either side. A company position existed on the western bank of the canal by each of the bridges, with a small observation post on the eastern side, which could be quickly recalled, and all three bridges could be destroyed with demolition charges set into their structures, triggered by a firing mechanism situated in the anti-tank bunkers.  Fort Eben-Emael, which measured, had been built during the 1930s, and completed by 1935, by blasting the required space out of marl. It possessed walls and roofs composed of thick reinforced concrete, as well as four retractable casemates and sixty-four strongpoints. The fort was equipped with six 120mm artillery pieces with a range of ten miles, two of which could traverse 360 degrees; sixteen 75mm artillery pieces; twelve 60mm high-velocity anti-tank guns; twenty-five twin-mounted machine-guns; and some anti-aircraft guns. One side of the fort faced the canal, whilst the other three faced land and were defended by minefields; deep ditches; a high wall; concrete pillboxes fitted with machine-guns; fifteen searchlights were emplaced on top of the fort; and 60mm anti-tank guns. Many tunnels ran beneath the fort, connecting individual turrets to the command centre and the ammunition stores. The fort also possessed its own hospital and living quarters for the garrison, as well as a power station that provided electricity to power the guns, provide internal and external illumination, and to power the wireless network and air-purifying system used by the garrison.  Belgian plans did not call for the garrison of the fort and the attached defending forces to fight a sustained battle against an attacking force; it was assumed that sufficient warning of an attack would be given so that the detachment on the eastern side of the canal could be withdrawn, the bridges destroyed and the garrison ready to fight a delaying action. The defending force would then retire to the main defensive positions along the River Dyle, where they would link up with other Allied forces.

German Preparation.

The airborne assault on Fort Eben-Emael, and the three bridges it helped protect, was part of a much larger German airborne operation that involved the 7th Air Division and the 22nd Airlanding Division. The 7th Air Division, comprising three parachute regiments and one infantry regiment, was tasked with capturing river and canal bridges that led to the Dutch defensive positions centered around Rotterdam, as well as an airfield at Waalhaven. The 22nd Airlanding Division, which was composed of two infantry regiments and a reinforced parachute battalion, was tasked with capturing airfields in the vicinity of The Hague at Valkenburg, Ockenburg and Ypenburg. Once these airfields had been secured by the parachute battalion, the rest of the division would land with the aim of occupying the Dutch capital and capturing the entire Dutch government, the Royal Family and high-ranking members of the Dutch military. The division would also interdict all roads and railway lines in the area to impede the movement of Dutch forces. The intention of the German OKW was to use the two airborne divisions to create a corridor, along which the 18th Army could advance into the Netherlands without being impeded by destroyed bridges. General Kurt Student, who proposed the deployment of the two airborne divisions, argued that their presence would hold open the southern approaches to Rotterdam, prevent the movement of Dutch reserves based in north-west Holland and any French forces sent to aid the Dutch defenders, and deny the use of airfields to Allied aircraft, all of which would aid a rapid advance by the 18th Army. 400 Junkers Ju 52 transport aircraft would be used to deploy the parachute elements of the airborne troops, as well as transport the elements of the two airborne divisions not landing by parachute or glider.  The force tasked with assaulting the fort and capturing the three bridges was formed from elements of the 7th Air Division and the 22nd Airlanding Division, and was named Sturmabteilung Koch (Assault Detachment Koch) after the leader of the force, Hauptmann Walter Koch. The force, which had been assembled in November 1939, was primarily composed of parachutists from the 1st Parachute Regiment and engineers from the 7th Air Division, as well as a small group of Luftwaffe pilots. Although the force was composed primarily of parachutists, it was decided that the first landings by the force should be by glider. Adolf Hitler, who had taken a personal interest in the arrangements for the assault force, had ordered that gliders be used after being told by his personal pilot, Hanna Reitsch, that gliders in flight were nearly silent; it was believed that, since Belgian anti-aircraft defences used sound-location arrays and not radar, it would be possible to tow gliders near to the Dutch border and then release them, achieving a surprise attack as the Belgian defenders would not be able to detect them. Fifty DFS 230 transport gliders were supplied for use by the assault force, and then a period of intensive training began. A detailed study of the fort, the bridges and the local area was made, and a replica of the area was constructed for the airborne troops to train in. Joint exercises between the parachutists and the glider pilots were carried out in early 1940, and refinements were made to the equipment and tactics to be used, such as barbed wire being added to the nose-skids of the gliders to reduce their landing run, and the airborne troops trained with flamethrowers and specialized explosives, the latter of which were so secret that they were only used on fortifications in Germany and not on fortifications in Czechoslovakia similar to Fort Eben Emael. Secrecy was also maintained in other ways. When exercises were completed gliders and equipment would be broken down and taken away in furniture vans, the sub-units of the force were frequently renamed and moved from one location to another, unit badges and insignia were removed, and the airborne troops were not permitted to leave their barracks or to take leave.  Hauptmann Koch divided his force into four assault groups. Group Granite, under Oberleutnant Rudolf Witzig, composed of eighty-five men in eleven gliders whose task would be to assault and capture Fort Eben Emael; Group Steel, commanded by Oberleutnant Gustav Altmann, and formed of ninety-two men and nine gliders, would capture the Veldwezelt bridge; Group Concrete, commanded by Leutnant Gerhard Schacht and composed of ninety-six men in eleven gliders, would capture the Vroenhoven bridge; and Group Iron, under Leutnant Martin Schächter, composed of ninety men in ten gliders, who would capture the Kanne bridge. The crucial element for the assault force, particularly Group Granite, was time. It was believed that the combination of a noiseless approach by the gliders used by the assault force, and the lack of a declaration of war by the German government, would give the attackers the element of surprise. However, German estimates were that this would last, at the most, for sixty minutes, after which the superior numbers of the Belgian forces defending the fort and the bridges, as well as any reinforcements sent to the area, would come to bear against the relatively small number of lightly armed airborne troops. The German plan, therefore, was to eliminate within those sixty minutes as many anti-aircraft positions and individual cupolas and casemates as was possible, and at all costs to put out of action the long-range artillery pieces which covered the three bridges. The destruction of these guns was expected to be completed within ten minutes; within this time the airborne troops would have to break out of their gliders, cover the distance to the guns, fix the explosive charges to the barrels of the guns and detonate them, all while under enemy fire.  The finalized plan for the assault called for between nine and eleven gliders to land on the western bank of the Albert Canal by each of the three bridges just prior to 05:30 on 10 May, the time scheduled for Fall Gelb to begin. The groups assigned to assault the three bridges would overwhelm the defending Belgian troops, remove any demolition charges and then prepare to defend the bridges against an expected counter-attack. Forty minutes later, three Ju 52 transport aircraft would fly over each position, dropping a further twenty-four airborne troops as reinforcements as well as machine-guns and significant amounts of ammunition. Simultaneously, the force assigned to assault Fort Eben-Emael was to land on top of the Fort in eleven gliders, eliminate any defenders attempting to repel them, cripple what artillery they could with explosive charges, and then prevent the Garrison from dislodging them. Having achieved their initial objectives of seizing the bridges and eliminating the long-range artillery pieces possessed by the Fort, the airborne troops would then defend their positions until the arrival of German ground forces.

Battle.

For reasons of security, Sturmabteilung Koch was dispersed around several locations in the Rhineland until it received orders for the operation against Fort Eben-Emael and the three bridges to begin. Preliminary orders were received on 9 May, ordering the separated detachments to move to a pre-arranged concentration area, and shortly afterwards a second order arrived, informing the assault force that Fall Gelb was to begin at 05:25 on 10 May.  The Fallschirmjäger filed onto a non-illuminated tarmac at 03:00, as the loudspeakers played Richard Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries”. At 04:30, forty-two gliders carrying the 493 airborne troops that formed the assault force were lifted off from two airfields in Cologne, the armada of gliders and transport aircraft turning south towards their objectives. The aircraft maintained strict radio silence, forcing the pilots to rely on a chain of signal fires that pointed towards Belgium; the radio silence also ensured that senior commanders of the assault force could not be informed that the tow-ropes on one of the gliders had snapped, forcing the glider to land inside Germany. The pilot of a second glider released his tow-rope prematurely, and was unable to land near its objective. Both gliders were carrying troops assigned to Group Granite and were destined to assault Fort Eben-Emael, thereby leaving the group understrength; it also left it under the command of Oberleutnant Witzig's second-in-command - Oberfeldwebel Helmut Wenzel, as Witzig was in one of the gliders forced to land. The remaining gliders were released from their tow-ropes twenty miles away from their objectives at an altitude of, which was deemed high enough for the gliders to land by the three bridges and on top of the fort, and also maintain a steep dive angle to further ensure they landed correctly. After the Ju 52's released the gliders and began turning away, Belgian anti-aircraft artillery positions detected them and opened fire. This alerted the defences in the area to the presence of the gliders.

Bridges.

All nine gliders carrying the troops assigned to Group Steel landed next to the bridge at Veldwezelt at 05:20, the barbed-wire wrapped around the landing skids of the gliders succeeding in rapidly bringing them to a halt. The glider belonging to Leutnant Altmann had landed some distance from the bridge, and a second had landed directly in front of a Belgian pillbox, which began engaging both groups of airborne troops with small-arms fire. The non-commissioned officer in charge of the troops from the second glider hurled grenades at the pillbox whilst one of his men laid an explosive charge at the door and detonated it, allowing the bunker to be assaulted and removed as an obstacle. Simultaneously, Altmann gathered his troops and led them along a ditch running parallel to the bridge until two men were able to reach the canal bank and climb onto the girders of the bridge and disconnect the demolition charges placed there by the Belgian garrison. Thus the airborne troops prevented the Belgians from destroying the bridge, though they still faced the rest of the Belgian defenders. The defenders held on until a platoon of German reinforcements arrived and forced them to retire to a nearby village. However, the assaulting force's small-arms fire could not overcome two field-guns located five hundred metres from the bridge, thus forcing Altmann to call for air support. Several Junkers Ju 87 Stukas responded and knocked out the guns. Group Steel was to be relieved by 14:30, but Belgian resistance delayed their arrival in strength until 21:30. During the fighting, the attacking force left eight airborne troops dead and thirty wounded. Ten of the eleven gliders transporting Group Concrete landed next to the Vroenhoven bridge at 05:15, the eleventh glider having been hit by anti-aircraft fire en route to the bridge and being forced to land prematurely inside Dutch territory. The gliders were engaged by heavy anti-aircraft fire as they landed, causing one of the gliders to stall in mid-air. The resulting crash severely wounded three airborne troops. The rest of the gliders landed without damage. One of the gliders landed near to the fortification housing the bridge detonators. This allowed the airborne troops to rapidly assault the position. They killed the occupants and tore out the wires connecting the explosives to the detonator set, ensuring the bridge could not be destroyed. The remaining Belgian defenders resisted fiercely by mounting several counter-attacks in an attempt to recapture the bridge. They were repelled with the aid of several machine-guns dropped by parachute to the airborne troops at 06:15. Constant Belgian attacks meant that Group Concrete were not withdrawn and relieved by an infantry battalion until 21:40. They suffered losses of seven dead and twenty-four wounded.  All but one of the ten gliders carrying the airborne troops assigned to Group Iron were able to land next to their objective, the bridge at Kanne. Due to a navigation error by the pilots of the transport aircraft towing the gliders, one of the gliders was dropped in the wrong area. The other nine gliders were towed through heavy anti-aircraft fire and released at 05:35. As the gliders began to descend towards their objective, the bridge was destroyed by several demolition explosions set off by the Belgian garrison. Unlike the garrisons of the other two bridges, the Belgian defenders at Kanne had been forewarned, as the German mechanized column heading for the bridge to reinforce Group Iron arrived twenty minutes ahead of schedule. Its appearance ruined any chance of a surprise assault and gave the defenders sufficient time to destroy the bridge. As the gliders came in to land, one was hit by anti-aircraft fire and crashed into the ground killing most of the occupants. The remaining eight landed successfully, and the airborne troops stormed the Belgian positions and eliminated the defenders.  By 05:50 the airborne troops had secured the area as well as the nearby village of Kanne, but they were then subjected to a strong counter-attack which was only repulsed with the aid of air support from Stuka divebombers. The defenders launched several more counter-attacks during the night, ensuring that the airborne troops could not be relieved until the morning of 11 May. Group Iron suffered the heaviest casualties of all three assault groups assigned to capture the bridges with twenty-two dead and twenty-six wounded. One of the airborne troops assigned to the Group was taken prisoner by the Belgians. He was later freed by German forces at a British prisoner of war camp at Dunkirk.

Fort Eben-Emael.

The nine remaining gliders transporting the airborne troops assigned to Group Granite successfully landed on the roof of Fort Eben-Emael, using arrester-parachutes to slow their descent and rapidly bring them to a halt. The airborne troops rapidly emerged from the gliders, Oberfeldwebel Helmut Wenzel assumed command in the absence of Witzig, began attaching explosive charges to those emplacements on the top of the Fort which housed the artillery pieces that could target the three captured bridges. In the southern part of the Fort, Objective No. 18, an artillery observation casemate housing three 75mm artillery pieces was damaged with a light demolition charge and then permanently destroyed with a heavier charge, which collapsed the casemate's observation dome and part of the roof of the Fort itself. Objective No. 12, a traversing turret holding two more artillery pieces was also destroyed by airborne troops, who then moved to Objective No. 26, a turret holding another three 75mm weapons; although explosives were detonated against this and the airborne troops assigned to destroy it moved off, this proved to be premature as one of the guns was rapidly brought to bear against the attackers, who were forced to assault it for a second time to destroy it. Another pair of 75mm guns in a cupola was disabled, as was a barracks known to house Belgian troops. However, attempts to destroy Objective No. 24 proved to be less successful; the objective, twin turrets with heavy-calibre guns mounted on a rotating cupola, was too large for airborne troops from a single glider to destroy on their own, forcing troops from two gliders to be used. Primitive "unlined" shaped charges were affixed to the turrets and detonated, but whilst they shook the turrets they did not destroy them, and other airborne troops were forced to climb the turrets and smash the gun barrels.  In the northern section of the fort, similar actions were taking place, as the airborne troops raced to destroy or otherwise disable the fortifications housing artillery pieces. Objective No. 13 was a casemate housing multiple machine-guns whose arcs of fire covered the western side of the Fort; to destroy the casemate, the airborne troops used a flamethrower to force the Belgian soldiers manning the weapons to retreat, and then detonated shaped charges against the fortification to disable it. Another observation cupola fitted with machine-guns, Objective No. 19, was destroyed, but two further objectives, Nos. 15 and 16 were found to be dummy installations. Unexpected complications came from Objective No. 23, a retractable cupola housing two 75mm artillery pieces. It had been assumed that the weapons in this fortification could not stop the airborne assault, but this assumption was found to be false when the weapons opened fire, forcing the airborne troops in the area to go to cover. The rapid fire of the weapons led to air support being summoned, and a Stuka squadron bombed the cupola. Although the bombs did not destroy the cupola, the explosions did force the Belgians to retract it throughout the rest of the fighting. Any exterior entrances and exits located by the airborne troops were destroyed with explosives to seal the garrison inside the Fort, giving the garrison few opportunities to attempt a counter-attack. The airborne troops had achieved their initial objective of destroying or disabling the artillery pieces that the fort could have used to bombard the captured bridges, but they still faced some small cupolas and emplacements that had to be disabled. These included anti-aircraft weapons and machine-guns. As these secondary objectives were attacked, a single glider landed on top of the Fort, from which emerged Oberleutnant Rudolf Witzig. After his glider had unintentionally landed in German territory, he had radioed for another tug, and it landed in the field with a replacement glider. Once the airborne troops had broken down fences and hedges obstructing the aircraft, they boarded the new glider and were towed through anti-aircraft fire to the fort. Having achieved their primary objectives of disabling the artillery pieces possessed by the fort, the airborne troops then held it against Belgian counter-attacks, which began almost immediately. These counter-attacks were made by Belgian infantry formations without artillery support and were uncoordinated. This allowed the airborne troops to repel them with machine-gun fire. Artillery from several smaller Forts nearby and Belgian field artillery units also targeted the airborne troops, but this too was uncoordinated and achieved nothing and often aided the airborne troops in repelling counter-attacks by Belgian infantry units. Patrols were also used to ensure that the garrison stayed in the interior of the fort and did not attempt to emerge and mount an attempt to retake the fort. Any attempt by the garrison to launch a counter-attack would have been stymied by the fact that the only possible route for such an attack was up a single, spiral staircase, and any embrasures looking out onto the Fort had either been captured or disabled. The plan for the assault had called for Group Granite to be relieved by 51st Engineer Battalion within a few hours of seizing the Fort, but the Group was not actually relieved until 7:00 on 11 May. Heavy Belgian resistance, as well as several demolished bridges over the River Meuse, had forced the battalion to lay down new bridges, delaying it significantly. Once the airborne troops had been relieved, the battalion, in conjunction with an infantry regiment that arrived shortly after the engineers, mounted an attack on the main entrance to the fort. Faced with this attack, the garrison surrendered at 12:30, suffering sixty men killed and forty wounded. The Germans captured more than a thousand Belgian soldiers. Group Granite suffered six killed and nineteen wounded.

Aftermath.

The airborne assault on the three bridges and Fort Eben-Emael had been an overall success for the Fallschirmjäger of Sturmabteilung Koch; the artillery pieces possessed by Fort Eben-Emael had been disabled, and two of the three bridges designated to be captured by the sub-units of Sturmabteilung Koch had been captured before they could be destroyed. The capture of the bridges, and the neutralization of the artillery pieces in the Fort allowed infantry and armour from the 18th Army to bypass other Belgian defences and enter the heart of Belgium. In a post-war publication, General Kurt Student wrote of the operation, and the efforts of Group Granite in particular, that "It was a deed of exemplary daring and decisive significance [...] I have studied the history of the last war and the battles on all fronts. But I have not been able to find anything among the host of brilliant actions—undertaken by friend or foe—that could be said to compare with the success achieved by Koch's Assault Group."  Sturmabteilung Koch was promoted after the end of Fall Gelb to become 1st Battalion of the newly formed 1st Airlanding Assault Regiment, which itself consisted of four battalions of Fallschirmjaeger trained as a gliderborne assault force. Hauptmann Koch was promoted to the rank of Major for his part in the operation and assumed command of the 1st Battalion. Due to the destroyed bridges, the 17th Armored Engineer Battalion built a new bridge over the canal on the 15 September 1944.

References.

Citations  Bibliography

The Battle of Fort Eben-Emael was a battle between Belgian and German forces that took place between 10 May and 11 May 1940, and was part of the Battle of Belgium and "Fall Gelb", the German invasion of the Low Countries and France. An assault force of German paratroopers, "Fallschirmjäger", was tasked with assaulting and capturing Fort Eben-Emael, a Belgian fortress whose strategic position and strong artillery emplacements dominated several important bridges over the Albert Canal. These carried roads which led into the Belgian heartland and were what the German forces intended to use to advance. As some of the German airborne forces assaulted the fortress and disabled the garrison and the artillery pieces inside it, others simultaneously captured three bridges over the Canal. Having disabled the fortress, the airborne troops were then ordered to protect the bridges against Belgian counter-attacks until they linked up with ground forces from the German 18th Army.

埃本-埃美尔要塞战役是发生在1940年5月10日至11日比利时和德国之间的一场战役,是荷兰战役、比利时战役和黄色方案等德国入侵低地国家和法国行动的一个组成部分。德军空降猎兵的任务是攻击和占领埃本-埃美尔要塞,它是一座负责守卫比利时阿尔伯特运河上重要桥梁的要塞,德军意图通过这些桥梁绕过比利时的防线攻入比利时。德军空降猎兵攻击该要塞,使其守军和内里的大砲丧失作战能力,同时其它部队攻占在运河上的3座桥梁。空降部队使要塞砲火瘫痪后,奉命在比利时反击时保护这些桥梁,直到与德国第18军团的地面部队会合。


History.

The city of Bakhchisaray and the palace were commissioned by the Crimean Khan dynasty, who moved their capital here from Salaçıq in the first half of the 16th century. The palace's complex design and minarets were constructed in the 16th century by Ottoman, Persian and Italian architects. Later damages required partial reconstruction, but the structure still has a resemblance to its original form. Some buildings currently in the palace were attached later, while some of the original buildings could not stand past the 18th century.

Bakhchisaray Fountain.

One courtyard contains a small fountain whose sad story so moved the Russian writer Alexander Pushkin when he visited it that he wrote a long narrative poem titled "The Fountain of Bakhchisaray". Bakhchisaray Fountain or Fountain of Tears is a real case of life imitating art. The fountain is known as the embodiment of love of one of the last Crimean Khans, Qırım Giray Khan, for his young wife, and his grief after her early death. The Khan was said to have fallen in love with this Polish girl Maria in his harem. Maria is presumed to have been slain by the khan's former favourite Georgian wife Zarema, who had been supplanted in his affections by the captive Pole. Despite his battle-hardened harshness, he grieved and wept when she died, astonishing all those who knew him. He commissioned a marble fountain to be made, so that the rock would weep, like him, forever.  Originally placed by the young woman's tomb in a restful garden, the fountain was transferred to its current location in the Ambassadors' courtyard after Catherine II ordered the annexation of the Crimean territory. Pushkin's verses are credited in part for ensuring the survival of the palace itself to date.

The Big Khan Mosque.

The Big Khan Mosque () is located on the Palace Square to the east of the northern gate. It is one of the largest mosques in the Crimea and one of the first buildings of the Khan's palace. The mosque was built in 1532 by Sahib I Giray and bore his name in the 17th century.  The mosque consists of a three-aisle square prayer hall covered with a hipped roof, a narthex and porticos facing east and west. Two symmetrical octagonal minarets rise through the porticos; they are twenty-eight meters high and have conical caps and finials. A domed ablution kiosk of square shape is attached to the northeastern corner of the mosque. It is believed that a madrasah built by Khan Arslan Giray in 1750 used to adjoin the eastern wall. The mosque is entered from a portal facing north. Inside, a balcony is attached to three of the four walls, part of which is sectioned off for the Khan's lodge. Scholars argue that the mosque was originally roofed with domes of various sizes.  In 1736 the mosque was damaged by fire and later restored during the reign of Khan Selameta Giray.

Small Khan Mosque.

The Small Khan Mosque () is located in the main building and was designed for members of the Khan's family and important dignitaries. Construction of the small mosque dates back to the 16th century, and paintings in the mosque are from the 17th and 18th centuries In the south wall is the mihrab, the upper part of which is cut seven ornamented belts, symbolizing the seven levels of heaven. Above the mihrab is a stained glass window, which shows the seal of Suleiman (hexagram). On the walls of the small mosque are scratched images of boats with sails, horses and horsemen.

The Khan's Palace or Hansaray is located in the town of Bakhchysarai, Crimea. It was built in the 16th century and became home to a succession of Crimean Khans. The walled enclosure contains a mosque, a harem, a cemetery, living quarters and gardens. The palace interior has been decorated to appear lived in and reflects the traditional 16th-century Crimean Tatar style. It is one of the best known Muslim palaces found in Europe, alongside Topkapı Palace, Dolmabahçe Palace, Yıldız Palace, Aynalıkavak Palace, Edirne Palace, Çırağan Palace in Turkey and the Alhambra in Spain.

巴赫奇萨赖汗宫(克里米亚鞑靼语:Han Saray)是一座位于俄罗斯克里米亚共和国或乌克兰克里米亚自治共和国巴赫奇萨赖市的古代宫殿,建于16世纪,一直为克里米亚可汗们的居所。


Early life.

Paget was the original choice of publisher George Newnes to illustrate Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories in "The Strand Magazine", but through a misunderstanding the commission went to his brother, Sidney.  Walter Paget provided illustrations for numerous authors of the era, including the 1910 edition of Charles and Mary Lamb's "Tales from Shakespeare", and Doyle's 1913 Holmes short story, "The Adventure of the Dying Detective," in "The Strand Magazine". He illustrated adventure novels by G. A. Henty, F. S. Brereton and Herbert Strang, among others.

Authors illustrated by Paget.

Among the author's whose work was illustrate by Wal Paget were the following (based on the list by Kirkpatrick).

The fine art edition of Robinson Crusoe.

In late 1890 Cassell's began advertising for a new fine-art edition of "Robinson Crusoe" illustrated by Paget. It was to be in 13 monthly parts, with a price of six pence each, with the first part available on 18 December 1890. While the original advertisement does not give the number of the illustrations, later advertisements stated that the edition would have "upwards of 100" illustrations by Paget. Presumably Paget was still drawing the illustrations as the exact number was not stated.  The work was very well received by reviewers:  Just as the publication of the fine-art "Robinson Crusoe" in installments was coming to an end, Cassell's published it as a single volume book. This was equally well received.."Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News"

Paget's Illustrations for "Robinson Crusoe".

The following illustrations are the fourteen full page illustrations. The book had 120 in total, and many of the others are half page or larger. All show the same scrupulous care. The book is available on-line at tThe British Library. The final illustration shown is a cover for the book in installments.  Illustration by Walter Paget for fine-art Cassell edition (1891) of Robinson Crusoe - by courtesy of British Library

Later life.

Paget did relatively little work after 1921, illustrating mostly children's books on life in different countries, and then illustrating less than over every two years on average. Paget moved to Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex, England. However, it was not there but at Fockbury, a small hamlet near Bromsgrove in Worcestershire that he died on 29 January 1935.

Walter Stanley Paget (26 January 186229 January 1935) was a British illustrator of the late 19th and early 20th century, who signed his work as "Wal Paget". Paget held a gold medal from the Royal Academy of Arts, and was the youngest of three brothers, Henry M. Paget (eldest) and Sidney Paget (middle brother), all illustrators.

华特·史坦利·佩吉特(英语:Walter Stanley Paget,1863年-1935年)是一位英国插画家。他的两名兄弟与西德尼也是插画家。


History.

Origins.

The founder of PRM, Ahmad Boestamam, was an activist of the leftist Kesatuan Melayu Muda (KMM) movement. During the Japanese occupation of Malaya, he had briefly served as with the Japanese sponsored militia known as the Pembela Tanah Ayer ("Defender of the Homeland"; PETA) and later helped to organise co-operative communes run by the KMM.  With the capitulation of the Japanese in 1945, movements that collaborated with the Japanese like KMM likewise collapsed and the leftist Malay activists regrouped to organise various political movements, such as the Malay Nationalist Party (; PKMM) led by Burhanuddin al-Helmy, the Angkatan Pemuda Insaf ("Awakened Youth Organisation"; API) led by Ahmad Boestamam and the Angkatan Wanita Sedar ("Cohort of Awakened Women"; AWAS) led by Shamsiah Fakeh. Boestamam was part of the PKMM and API delegation that participated in the Pan-Malayan Malay Congress in 1946 and was instrumental in keeping the Malay leftist movements out of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) that resulted out of the congress.  Growing opposition to the Malayan Union confederation led the British colonial authorities to consider an alternative constitutional framework for the country. A proposal known as the "Constitutional Proposals for Malaya" was developed in co-operation with UMNO and representatives of the Malay rulers. This proposal was opposed by a large segment of the non-Malay population of the country who saw it as discriminatory as well as a sizeable portion of the nationalists who saw it as delaying the self-determination and independence of Malaya.  A combination of anti-British sentiments and economic hardships saw the coalescing of the various political movements representing the Malay and non-Malay populations and eventually led to the formation of a broad coalition with the Malay movements represented in Pusat Tenaga Ra'ayat ("People's United Front"; PUTERA), itself a coalition of movements like PKMM, API, AWAS and others, and the non-Malay movements represented in the All-Malaya Council of Joint Action (AMCJA), another coalition of movements such as the Malayan Indian Congress, Malayan Democratic Union, and others.  The PUTERA-AMCJA tabled an alternative proposal known as the People's Constitutional Proposal and attempted to lobby for a Royal Commission to be formed to review the original proposals. The PUTERA-AMCJA also launched a successful nationwide hartal was organised on 20 October 1947, the same date where the constitutional proposals were due to be deliberated by the House of Commons in London.  Despite these efforts, PUTERA-AMCJA failed to overturn the decision to adopt the Constitutional Proposals which led to the formation of the Federation of Malaya on 31 January 1948. API was banned on 20 March 1948, gaining the distinction of being the first political movement in Malaya to be banned by the authorities and Boestamam was arrested on 1 July 1948. A declaration of emergency was extended nationwide on 12 July 1948 in what became the Malayan Emergency and resulted in the arrests and incarceration of many leftist and nationalist activists. Many who managed to escaped the dragnet joined the armed rebellion coordinated by the Communist Party of Malaya.

Foundation.

Upon his release from incarceration in 1955, Boestamam regrouped his supporters to form Partai Ra'ayat ("People's Party"; PR). The new party was inaugurated on 11 November 1955 embracing a philosophy of nationalistic social democracy focussing on the poor known as Marhaenism, a phrase coined by Sukarno. PR formed a coalition with the Labour Party of Malaya led by another PKMM veteran, Ishak Haji Muhammad on the merdeka day 31 August 1957. This became known as the Malayan Peoples' Socialist Front () or the Socialist Front (SF) and was officially 26 August 1958.  Branches of PR was formed in the neighbouring British protectorate of Brunei and the colony of Singapore in what eventually became the Brunei People's Party and Partai Rakyat Singapore ("Singapore People's Party" (PRS) – not to be mistaken with the current Singapore People's Party). Both these branches eventually disappeared from active politics by the mid 1960s with the PRB banned in 1962 and the PRS never sufficiently gaining enough support in Singapore for electoral success. The PRB is believed to be still operating in exile and the PRS remains a registered political party in Singapore.

Early successes.

The SF participated in both municipal and legislative elections and successfully captured significant number of seats in the urban areas where SF won Parliamentary seats in Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru in the 1959 general election and the SF as a whole successfully garnering 13% of the votes becoming the third largest party in Parliament after the Alliance and the Pan Malaysian Islamic Party (PMIP). The SF further consolidated its gains in municipal elections including the City Council of Georgetown, Penang where it won 14 of the 15 seats in the Council during the 1961 Local Elections. The SF was further strengthened when the former Minister of Agriculture, Aziz Ishak, brought his National Convention Party into the coalition.  Tunku Abdul Rahman's announcement for the expansion of Malaya into a larger federation known as Malaysia in 1961 galvanised the co-operation between the various Opposition parties in the Parliament. The SF found itself working on the same side as Parti Negara, the People's Progressive Party (PPP), the United Democratic Party (UDP), and the Pan-Malayan Islamic Party (PMIP), in opposing the proposal due to the perception that it was being formulated by the Alliance without the consent of the people of the territories.

Persecution.

However, with the onset of the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation in 1962, opposition to the new federation came to be seen as being pro-Indonesia and anti national. This caused significant rifts among the Opposition parties. Many party leaders were also arrested and incarcerated including Boestamam, Ishak Muhammad, Ahmad bin Abdul Rahim and Aziz Ishak under the Internal Security Act (ISA). These factors cost the SF significant losses in the 1964 general election where PR and the NCP failed to gain any seats at all and the LPM lost significant number of seats.  With most of the senior leadership of the SF incarcerated, the SF eventually collapsed when PR announced its decision to withdraw in December 1965.

Scientific socialism.

In the leadership vacuum, a group of young intellectuals led by Kassim Ahmad took over the reins of the party in 1965 and it underwent a radical change. The party was renamed Parti Sosialis Rakyat Malaysia ("Malaysian People's Socialist Party"; PSRM) and it officially adopted scientific socialism as its ideology. Despite the reorientation of the party, the post 1969 political scenario meant that the party remained in the sidelines.  Other leaders were also arrested under the ISA like Syed Husin Ali in 1974 and Kassim himself in 1976. This cost the party significant organisational cohesiveness that continued to plague it right into the next decade. Leaders like Kampo Radjo and Syed Hussin helped keep the party intact over the next decade.

Consolidation.

In the party's congress in 1989, the PSRM decided to revert to its previous name but retaining the term "Malaysia". A new leadership was also elected and Syed Husin was named party president while academic Sanusi Osman was elected Secretary General. The reversion to the name Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) was not without controversy and a group led by Mohd Nasir Hashim left the party. This group eventually formed the core that founded the Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM). The reorganised PRM contested the 1990 general elections as part of the Gagasan Rakyat coalition with the Democratic Action Party (DAP), Parti Melayu Semangat 46 (S46), All Malaysian Indian Progressive Front (IPF) and Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS). Although PRM failed to win any seats, it marked the beginning of the reversal of the party's fortunes.  The Gagasan Rakyat coalition did not survive the 1995 elections after the withdrawal of PBS and the dissolution of Semangat 46. Nonetheless, this was soon followed by the Reformasi movement that saw the creation of a new coalition known as Barisan Alternatif ("Alternative Front"; BA) that grouped PRM, DAP, PMIP (known as PAS since the 1970s) and the newly formed Parti Keadilan Nasional ("National Justice Party"; KeADILan).  PRM also gained an influx of younger members from the interest and political consciousness generated by the Reformasi movement during this period which rejuvenated the youth wing of the party. BA contested the 1999 general elections with PRM contesting three parliamentary seats in three state seats. The BA won 40.23% of the popular vote but PRM failed again to win any seats although it did lose one seat only by a narrow margin of 8.4% of the votes.

Merger.

Following the 1999 general elections, KeADILan began to explore the possibility of merger between the two parties. However the merger was delayed by the lengthy negotiations between the two parties. The two parties only officially merged on 3 August 2003 becoming Parti KeADILan Rakyat ("People's Justice Party"; PKR). PRM had to contest the 2004 general elections under KeADILan's symbol as the merger had yet to be approved by the authorities.  The 2004 elections almost routed the BA with the coalition losing 22 seats out of the 42 it held in the previous Parliament. There was also growing tension between some former PRM members in PKR with the leadership over what was perceived as a growing influence of neoconservatism within the new party stemming from the personal friendship between the party's leader, Anwar Ibrahim and Paul Wolfowitz.  Quite a number of former PRM members in PKR were also not comfortable with the merger in the first place and found a rallying point to express their dissent, particularly towards the former leadership who negotiated the merger.

Re-emergence.

On 17 April 2005, the dissidents convened a National Congress in Johor Bahru, taking advantage of the fact that the party had yet to be de-registered by the authorities, and elected a new Executive Committee led by former PRM youth leader, Hassan Abdul Karim to resume political activities as PRM.  PRM then contested in the subsequent general elections of 2008, 2013 and 2018 but have yet to get their members elected into the parliamentary and state legislatures. Despite the formation of the opposition coalitions Pakatan Rakyat (2008-2015) and Pakatan Harapan (2015-present), PRM has remained outside the main coalitions to date. All of their candidates were trounced and lost their deposits in the 2018 election.

Ideology.

PRM is currently centre-left in orientation and stresses on the promotion of progressive values, of economic, political and human progress, democracy and basic human rights, unity of the people, ethical and cultural values, and the protection of the environment.

The Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM, Malaysian People's Party) is a democratic socialist political party in Malaysia. Established on 11 November 1955 as Partai Ra'ayat, it is one of the older political parties in Malaysia and traces its pedigree to the anti-colonial movements from the pre World War II period like the Kesatuan Melayu Muda. After being politically inactive for a long time, the party contested in Penang, Kedah and Selangor in the 2018 elections. However, the party failed to win a single state or parliamentary seat. It is unrepresented in the Dewan Rakyat and state legislative assemblies of Malaysia.

马来西亚人民党(,简称人民党或「PRM」)是一个于1955年成立的马来西亚小型民主社会主义政党。该党是马来西亚历史悠久的政党之一。


Development and description.

The "10.5 cm GebH 40" was designed to meet an Army requirement for a 10.5 cm howitzer to serve in the mountain divisions ("Gebirgs Divisionen"). Both Rheinmetall and Böhler submitted designs for troop trials in 1940 and Böhler was selected for production, although actual production did not begin until 1942. Some 420 were built between 1942–45.  The design of the "10.5 cm GebH 40" was relatively conventional in regard to the gun itself, with its standard German horizontal sliding block breech, split trail carriage with removable spades, and muzzle brake, but the carriage differed considerably from those typically used in the German army. The wheels were made from light-alloy with solid rubber tires, and their spring suspension was fixed to the legs of the split-trail carriage and would "toe-in" when the legs were spread out in preparation for firing. A firing pedestal was positioned underneath the front of the carriage so that the howitzer had three points of support when firing and also minimized the time needed to find a firing position by reducing the amount of level space required (three level spots being easier to find than four). It could be either towed fully assembled, broken down into four loads on single-axle trailers towed by Sd.Kfz. 2 "Kettenkrad" half-track motorcycles or broken down into five pack-loads to be carried by mules. It remains the heaviest mountain howitzer ever made at, but some consider it one of the best mountain guns ever made and it remained in service until the 1960s with various European countries.  Two different range figures have been quoted for the 10.5 cm GebH 40, and. The former figure seems more plausible when compared to 10.5 cm howitzers with roughly similar barrel lengths and muzzle velocities like the 10.5 cm leFH 18 and the American M-2.

Ammunition.

The 10.5 cm GebH 40 fired a wide variety of ammunition, with the notable exception of a conventional armor-piercing shell. It used instead the standard three types of 10.5 cm hollow-charge armor-piercing shells developed over the course of the war and shared its illumination shell with the 10.5 cm leFH 18. However it used unique high-explosive and smoke shells. It used six increments of propellant which were added together to reach the desired range. A seventh charge could be used which replaced all the other charges for targets at the limit of the howitzer's range.

The 10.5 cm Gebirgshaubitze 40 (10.5 cm GebH 40) was a German mountain howitzer used during World War II. A total of 420 were built during World War II. It saw action with German mountain divisions in Finland, Italy, France, on the Eastern Front and in the Balkans from 1942. It served with a number of European countries into the 1960s.

10.5厘米GebH 40山地榴弹炮()是德国在二战中所使用的105毫米山砲。二战期间总共制造了约420门。从1942年起在芬兰、意大利、法国、东线和巴尔干半岛跟随着德国山地师一起作战。它在数个欧洲国家中一直服役到1960年代。


伊万·斯捷潘诺维奇·伊萨科夫

Early life.

Ivan Isakov was born Hovhannes Ter-Isahakyan in the family of an Armenian railway worker in the village of Hadjikend in the Kars Oblast, then a part of the Russian Empire (currently the Kars vilayet of Turkey). He Russianized his name after Russian Revolution. His father died soon after he was born. Afterward his mother raised their three children with her brother. His uncle had dreamed of service in the navy and had a library of marine literature, which inspired an identical love of watercraft for Isakov. The family later moved to Tiflis, where he studied mathematics and engineering at the local "realschule", which Isakov graduated from in 1913.

Military service.

In 1917, Isakov moved to Petrograd and entered the Naval Guards School of the Imperial Russian Navy and graduated as a midshipman in March of that year. He briefly saw action against the Germans in West Estonian archipelago (Moonsund archipelago). He continued his service after the October Revolution in the Baltic Sea fleet as a torpedo officer, where he served on several warships, including the "Izyaslav", the "Riga", the "Kobchik" and the "Korshun". In 1918, he took part in several battles against the German Imperial Navy until the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which effectively ended the war between Russia and Germany, granting the Baltic Sea to the latter. In March 1918, Isakov participated in the Ice Cruise of the Baltic Fleet from the naval base at Helsingfors where Russian warships and icebreakers were transferred from the Baltic to the naval base in Kronshtadt near Petrograd. An authoritative Russian Navy source notes that Isakov completed additional courses in mine-sweeping and mine-laying in 1919 and then served in the Caspian Sea, returning to the Baltic in 1920 and subsequently serving in the Black Sea until the mid-1920s.  In 1920, Isakov was transferred and assigned to the destroyer "Deyatelni", which patrolled from the Volga River down to the Caspian Sea and later shelled the positions of Allied interventionist forces in the midst of the Russian Civil War. Noted for his distinction during the battles, he was made the gun battery commander of the destroyer "Izyaslav" in 1921. From 1922 to 1927, he served as a "shtab operative", or member of the deputy chief of staff, of naval forces in the Black Sea Fleet. In 1928, Isakov completed academic courses at the Naval Academy in Leningrad and from 1930, he was Chief of Staff of the Baltic Fleet. In 1932, Isakov became the professor and head of the naval art department of the Soviet Naval Military Academy and taught as a professor for five years until he was promoted commander of the Baltic Fleet. From 1938 to 1939, he headed the Naval Academy. Isakov was appointed vice-commissar of naval affairs, and in 1939, he led a naval delegation to the United States with the goal of purchasing new warships. He met with the Secretary of the Navy, but the delegation left empty-handed since the US was unwilling to extend aid to the Soviet Union. Isakov broke away from teaching with the onset of the Winter War and entered active service; he coordinated not only the movement of naval warships in the Baltic Sea but also the ground forces of the Red Army in the Soviet war against Finland. From 1941 to 1943 Isakov was the chief of the Main Maritime Staff. In 1946 to 1947, he was chief of the Main Navy Staff. In 1947 to 1950, he was deputy commander-in-chief of the navy. In 1950 to 1956, he was deputy Naval Minister. From 1957, he was a member of the Defense Ministry General Inspectorate.

World War II.

With the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the Soviet Navy's manpower drastically decreased because men were needed to stave off the advances made by the German armies. Nevertheless, Isakov temporarily served in the Soviet Red Banner Northern Fleet until 1942 when he became a commander in the North Caucasus Front, where German forces were attempting to penetrate the oil fields of Baku. There, he was a member of the North-Caucasian Directive, a military council which planned operations and directed naval forces defending in the region. He was responsible for the successful naval landing by Soviet forces on the Kerch peninsula (the Kerch–Eltigen Operation), then held by German forces. On 4 October 1942, Isakov was injured in a German bombing raid in Tuapse and had his foot amputated, spending the remainder of the war in a field hospital. Nevertheless, Isakov continued to serve in his capacity as chief of staff of Soviet naval forces.. After the war, during a celebratory banquet for the Politburo and marshals, on 24 May 1945, Stalin walked all the way to his distant table to clink glasses in a toast to his efforts.

Admiralship and scholarly work.

In March 1955, Isakov was promoted to the service rank of Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union, one of only three to hold that rank, but he also managed to find the time for scholarly work. After becoming a professor in 1932, Isakov had spent much of his time researching military naval tactics and strategy. From 1932 to 1933, he had participated in a Soviet military report, which examined German naval, particularly submarine, tactics used during battles in the First World War. He received his "Doktor nauk" in 1937 after defending his dissertation on the routing of German forces by the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Battle of Tsingtao in 1914. In 1947, Isakov was appointed editor and president of "The Atlas of the Sea", a three-volume work on the charting of naval routes, the mapping of the seafloor and the physical landscape of the oceans and the history of naval warfare. The work went on to receive the 1951 Stalin Prize. Other prestigious positions Isakov went on to hold was editor and adviser in the writing of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia. In 1958, he became a Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Isakov became a member of the Writers' Union of the USSR in 1964.  By decree of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union on 7 May 1965, "For his able leadership of the troops, courage, bravery and heroism in the fight against the Nazi invaders, and in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War," Fleet Admiral Isakov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Appraisal, critics and legacy.

As a naval commander, Isakov has been described by one military historian as "more a naval practitioner than a theoretician" who "emphasized that the theory of the command of the sea was a rational theory."  Academician Abraham Alikhanov wrote that Joseph Stalin said, "A real admiral of the fleet, Comrade Isakov. Clever, no legs, but a strong head."  As a Russified Armenian, Isakov's personal worldview and identification can be characterized as a Great Russian's own instead of a Soviet's. In January 1965, Isakov wrote in the newspaper, "Nedelya", that "for centuries foreign enemies have tried to close for the Russian people all exits to the sea." Then he recalled, how "Astrakhan's kingdom has blocked the Caspian sea. In the Baltic the role of "Cerberus" was played in turn by the Livonian Knights, the Hanseatic League and later Sweden". Isakov concluded "The fortress Oreshek or Schlüsselburg has remained in the mouth of the Neva to this very day as a reminder of how afraid they were of letting the Russians out of Lake Ilmen."  On the basis of this article, Ivan Dziuba, a Ukrainian-born Russian philologist and a staunch Leninist, criticized Isakov strongly in his book "Internationalism or Russification" (1968) for repeating "what was written by the propagandists of tsarist times and in their falsified history textbooks," an attitude "which looked on the whole surrounding world whether it was in the way of Russia or not, whether it satisfied the appetites of tsarism or not." Dziuba used Isakov as an example of how tsarist Russia was identified completely with the contemporary USSR and how Great Russian chauvinism had surpassed "the Communist class approach" with "a pitiable Shulgin-type interpretation of the grandiose class battle of the proletariat, of the grandiose drama of universal history!"  Both the Soviet Union and Armenia have issued postage stamps dedicated to Isakov. An avenue in Yerevan is named after him, as well as a former Soviet cruiser and a planned Russian frigate.

Writings.

Isakov had written several books, mainly about naval warfare:

Ivan Stepanovich Isakov (, ; ( – 11 October 1967), born Hovhannes Ter-Isahakyan, was a Soviet Armenian military commander, Chief of Staff of the Soviet Navy, Deputy USSR Navy Minister, and held the rank of Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union. He played a crucial role in shaping the Soviet Navy, particularly the Baltic and Black Sea flotillas during the Second World War. Aside from his military career, Isakov became a member and writer of the oceanographic committee of the Soviet Union Academy of Sciences in 1958 and in 1967, became an honorary member of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic's Academy of Sciences.

伊万·斯捷潘诺维奇·伊萨科夫(,,1894年8月22日 – 1967年10月11日)是一位亚美尼亚裔苏联将军,曾为苏联海军总司令、海军副部长,最高军衔为苏联海军元帅。伊萨科夫在苏联海军的发展上扮演相当重要的角色,特别是第二次世界大战期间的波罗的海舰队和黑海舰队。伊萨科夫除了其军事生涯外,他也是一位海洋学家,为隶属苏联科学院委员会成员和作家,也是亚美尼亚苏维埃社会主义共和国的科学院荣誉成员。


安东尼奥·费利克斯·达·科斯塔

Career.

Karting.

Born in Lisbon, Félix da Costa began his karting career at the age of nine. In the Cadet class, Félix da Costa won the Portuguese Championship and the Portuguese Karting Open in 2002, before winning the South Portuguese Championship in 2003. In 2004, Félix da Costa stepped up to the ICA-J class, but he had to wait until 2006 to win his first title, the Portuguese Championship. 2006 was the year where he also achieved strong results in European karting events, with a runner-up placing in the World Series Karting Championship and a third in the Italian Open Masters. In 2007, Félix da Costa became an official factory driver for the legendary Italian Tony Kart team, in the newly renamed KF2 category alongside Will Stevens. His best results were a fourth in the Asia-Pacific Championship and a runner-up in the South-Garda Winter Cup.

Formula Renault 2.0.

2008.

Félix da Costa moved into single seaters in 2008, competing in both the Eurocup and Northern European championships of Formula Renault. Making his debut in the NEC at Hockenheim, he finished third behind team-mates Valtteri Bottas and Tobias Hegewald, after starting from third on the grid. Unlike his team-mates, his primary focus was the NEC rather than the Eurocup, and Félix da Costa achieved his first NEC win at Oschersleben, while most of his rivals were competing in the Eurocup round at the Hungaroring. He finished the season as runner-up in the championship, 86 points behind Bottas – who won twelve of the season's sixteen races – and as a prize, Félix da Costa tested a Formula Renault 3.5 Series car with the P1 Motorsport team at Paul Ricard. During the season, Félix da Costa also contested six Eurocup races; he recorded a best finish of fourth at Estoril en route to thirteenth in the championship, with five points-scoring finishes in total. Félix da Costa also served as a rookie driver for A1 Team Portugal, at the New Zealand and South African rounds of the 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season.

2009.

With Bottas, Hegewald, Daniel Ricciardo, Roberto Merhi amongst others moving to either Formula Two or Formula Three, Félix da Costa became a title contender in both the Eurocup and NEC Formula Renault series. Félix da Costa followed Bottas' lead of 2008, by dominating the NEC field, wrapping up the title at the Nürburgring. Consistency was the key to Félix da Costa's Eurocup campaign, finishing in the top five in the first seven races. He led the series until the rounds at the Nürburgring, where he ran under appeal, for a technical infringement in Super Pole. Félix da Costa dominated the first race at the brand new Ciudad del Motor de Aragón circuit, winning from his first series pole position, and also set fastest lap along the way. He completed the double the following day, however he lost out on second place in the championship to Jean-Éric Vergne on a tie-breaker.

Formula Three.

2010.

Félix da Costa stepped up to the Formula 3 Euro Series for the 2010 season, moving up with Motopark Academy. Félix da Costa scored a point on his début at Le Castellet, giving him pole position for the second race via the series' reverse-grid system. He took further points-scoring finishes in the Saturday races at Hockenheim, Valencia, the Norisring and the Nürburgring. The following day at the Nürburgring, Félix da Costa became the first Portuguese driver to win a race in the series, after he passed pole-sitter Jim Pla at the start of the race. Félix da Costa followed this victory up with further victories at each of the following two meetings at Zandvoort and Brands Hatch; he had finished the Saturday races in eighth position, and thus started both meetings' Sunday races from pole position and led both from start to finish.  He achieved one further podium finish at Oschersleben, finishing third, en route to a final championship placing of seventh place and was top-placed rookie. He also contested his first Macau Grand Prix at the end of the season, joining Carlin for the event. Having recorded the thirteenth fastest time in qualifying, Félix da Costa progressed up the field to a sixth-place finish in the main 15-lap race. Prior to the event, Félix da Costa took part in the Formula One Young Drivers' Test in Abu Dhabi for Force India. Félix da Costa set the third-fastest time of the first day's running, completing 77 laps.

2011.

In order to return to the Macau Grand Prix in 2011, Félix da Costa contested two meetings of the British Formula Three Championship for Hitech Racing, replacing Max Snegirev in one of the team's cars. He contested races at the Nürburgring and Paul Ricard during July, at circuits he had competed at previously in the Formula 3 Euro Series. He achieved a podium finish in the final race at the Nürburgring, finishing second to Felipe Nasr after a last-lap pass on Carlos Huertas, while he accumulated two podium finishes – second in race one and third in race two – at Paul Ricard. He finished the championship in thirteenth place, tied on points with another of the team's drivers, Riki Christodoulou. He rejoined Hitech Racing for Macau, where he started from the front row for the qualifying race – after Roberto Merhi was given a post-qualifying penalty – but stalled on the grid at the race start, dropping to the back of the field before retiring with gearbox issues. He retired from the main race with a wheel issue.

2012.

For the 2012 Macau Grand Prix, drivers had to compete in any Formula Three championship race during the calendar year, rather than an FIA-regulated championship meeting like previous years, due to the introduction of Dallara's new F312. As a result, Félix da Costa had to compete, for Carlin, in the MotorSport Vision Formula Three Cup – a second-tier Formula Three series in the United Kingdom – in its season-ending round at Snetterton, due to commitments in other series. Félix da Costa comfortably won both races, winning the first race by almost a minute and the second race by almost forty seconds. At Macau, Félix da Costa set the fastest time during the first qualifying session on Thursday, but ultimately had to start from second on the grid after Alex Lynn improved upon his time during the second session on Friday. Lynn made a slow start in the qualification race and Félix da Costa was momentarily passed by Felix Rosenqvist before he moved back ahead under braking for Lisboa on lap one. He maintained the lead until the end, taking pole position for the main race. Rosenqvist repeated his qualification race start in the Grand Prix itself, but Félix da Costa retook the lead at Lisboa on lap one once again. Félix da Costa maintained the lead until the end, to become the first Portuguese winner of the Grand Prix since Eduardo de Carvalho won the inaugural event in 1954. It was also Carlin's first win in the race since 2001, when Takuma Sato won the event.

GP3 Series.

2010.

Alongside his Formula Three commitments for Motopark Academy, Félix da Costa made his GP3 Series début during the series' inaugural season in 2010, replacing Lucas Foresti at the Carlin team for the rounds at the Hungaroring and Spa-Francorchamps. This was due to Foresti racing concurrently in the British Formula Three Championship, and the GP3 meetings clashed with Formula Three races at Spa-Francorchamps and Snetterton. In his first race, Félix da Costa finished in sixth place, but that was to be his only points-scoring finish, and eventually finished the season 26th in the drivers' championship standings.

2011.

For 2011, Félix da Costa moved into the series on a full-time basis, signing for the Status Grand Prix team to partner former Formula Three rival Alexander Sims and Ivan Lukashevich. Félix da Costa scored points in both races at the season-opening event at Istanbul Park, where he recorded finishes of fifth place and fourth place respectively. After these finishes, Félix da Costa went on a run of nine races without a points finish, with ninth place at Silverstone being his best finish of the barren spell. This was ended by a sixth-place finish at the Hungaroring, scoring a point having started from eleventh on the grid. He failed to score at Spa-Francorchamps, before a seventh-place finish in the opening race at Monza, where he made his way up the order from fourteenth on the grid. Starting alongside Mitch Evans on the front row for the final race of the season, Félix da Costa held a top-three placing for most of the race and when Evans and James Calado collided with three laps remaining, Félix da Costa was to profit as he assumed the race lead. He held the lead until the end of the race, holding off Rio Haryanto by 0.7 seconds to take his first GP3 victory; the victory helped him to finish thirteenth in the final drivers' championship standings. Félix da Costa also contested the non-championship GP2 Final in Abu Dhabi for Ocean Racing Technology, taking finishes of seventh and thirteenth places respectively.

2012.

Félix da Costa remained in the series for 2012, and he rejoined the Carlin team, partnering British drivers Alex Brundle and William Buller. For the opening round of the season in Barcelona, Félix da Costa qualified on pole position by 0.01 seconds ahead of Lotus GP team-mates Conor Daly and Aaro Vainio. Félix da Costa jumped the start of the race, and was given a drive-through penalty as a result. He ultimately finished the race in fourteenth place, before taking a seventh-place finish in the weekend's other race. He finished seventh in the opening race at Monaco, meaning he started second for the second race of the weekend. He remained in that position during the race, following Marlon Stöckinger across the line for his first podium of the season.  Félix da Costa was excluded from qualifying at Valencia for a technical infringement, forcing him to start the first race from the back of the grid. He retired from the race on the second lap, after an incident with Dmitry Suranovich; he was later found guilty of causing an avoidable collision and was given a ten-place grid penalty for the second race, forcing him to start at the back once again. Over the course of the 14-lap race, Félix da Costa moved up from 24th to 8th, setting fastest lap of the race in the process. He qualified third at Silverstone, but in the wet conditions that race one was held in, Félix da Costa managed to overtake Vainio off the line, and Mitch Evans early on the first lap. He held the lead from the remainder of the race to take his first win of the season. He finished sixth in the weekend's second race, enabling him to move into third place in the drivers' championship.  After a double retirement at Hockenheim, Félix da Costa scored his second victory of the season at the Hungaroring. Qualifying second to Vainio, Félix da Costa managed to hold off the advances of Evans at the start of the race, and eventually pulled away from his rivals. Evans was later passed by Lotus GP's Daniel Abt, but Félix da Costa maintained a four-second lead over them both and remained clear to the end. With the reverse-grid system, Félix da Costa started eighth for the second race, held in drying conditions. He had moved up to fifth place, on wet tyres, before making a pit stop for dry tyres. At one point during the race, Félix da Costa was lapping some ten seconds quicker than race leaders Matias Laine and Vainio, quickly making his way through the order. He moved into the lead with three laps to go, and ultimately won the race – becoming the first GP3 driver to win both races during a race weekend – by almost twelve seconds from Patric Niederhauser. At Spa-Francorchamps, Félix da Costa finished both races in second position to move himself into championship contention, 21.5 points behind championship leader Evans. However, the opening race at Monza eliminated him from the running after a strange electronic problem in the car forcing him to stop during the race, the car suddenly gained power again and he managed to finish the race in 15th, and he ultimately fell to third in the final drivers' championship standings thanks to a win and second for Abt at the meeting.

Formula Renault 3.5.

2012.

Midway through the 2012 season, Félix da Costa was selected to join the Red Bull Junior Team, replacing Formula Renault 3.5 Series driver Lewis Williamson, who had failed to score a point in the first three meetings of the season. Félix da Costa was selected to replace Williamson at the Arden Caterham squad – joining Alexander Rossi at the team – ahead of the fourth round of the season, at the Nürburgring. In his début race, Félix da Costa achieved a ninth-place finish, scoring two points towards the championship. At Moscow Raceway, Félix da Costa was able to qualify in seventh position for the series' first-ever race at the track, out-qualifying Rossi by almost three tenths of a second. He passed Nico Müller at the start of the race, and was able to hold sixth place for the first half of the race before being demoted by Kevin Korjus. Félix da Costa held seventh until the end of the race; he finished fifteenth in the weekend's second race.  At Silverstone, Félix da Costa improved upon his best finish in the series, taking a fifth-place finish in an attritional opening race of the weekend, in which only eleven of the race's twenty-six starters were classified. He also recorded the fastest lap of the race, as he avoided all the incidents that befell other drivers. Félix da Costa achieved his first podium finish the following day, turning a ninth place grid start into a second-place finish. He finished fourth in the opening race at the Hungaroring, before taking a final-lap victory – his first in the series – during the second race, after an engine failure had eliminated race leader Kevin Magnussen. Félix da Costa continued his good form into the following meeting at Le Castellet, winning a rain-affected opening race from as low as sixth position during the race. Félix da Costa qualified seventh for the second race of the weekend, which was run in similar conditions to the first. He had taken the lead by lap six, having passed Jules Bianchi for the position; Bianchi later overturned the advantage in the mandatory pit-stop phase, and ultimately held on to win from Félix da Costa.  Félix da Costa closed the season with a double victory in Catalunya; he won the first race after passing championship contender Sam Bird eight laps from the end, while the final race of the season was another standout wet-weather performance from Félix da Costa, taking victory by almost 28 seconds. Despite missing the first five races of the season, Félix da Costa finished the season fourth in the drivers' championship with 166 points, missing out on the championship title, won by Robin Frijns, by 23 points. Following his performances in both GP3 and Formula Renault 3.5, Félix da Costa was invited to test with the Red Bull Racing Formula One team during the Young Drivers' Test in Abu Dhabi. He tested for two of the scheduled three days, finishing with the second-fastest time – to Magnussen, driving for McLaren – on the opening day, before topping the time-sheets on day two, recording a time half a second quicker than the next best driver, Oliver Turvey.

2013.

In an interview with Portuguese newspaper "Diário de Notícias" in September 2012, Félix da Costa stated that he was seeking a full-time seat in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series for the 2013 season. On 9 January 2013, it was announced that Félix da Costa would be remaining with the Arden Caterham team that he had competed in the series with, during the 2012 season. Félix da Costa, along with Kevin Magnussen, was tipped by the 2012 champion Robin Frijns to be one of the main championship challengers for the season.

DTM.

2014.

Félix da Costa competed in the 2014 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season for the BMW MTEK team alongside Timo Glock. He scored points on two occasions finishing the season in 21st place with a total of six points. He was retained for the 2015 season.

2015.

In 2015, Félix da Costa moved to BMW Team Schnitzer driving alongside Martin Tomczyk. He did not score any points until race seven at Zandvoort where he got his first podium, finishing in second position. He won the second race of the weekend, for his first DTM victory. He was as high as eighth in points, but ultimately finished eleventh at the end of the season.

Formula E.

2014–15.

Félix da Costa competed in the 2014–15 Formula E season competing for Team Aguri in rounds that did not clash with his DTM commitments. In the team he raced alongside Katherine Legge and Salvador Durán during his time in the championship. The 2015 Buenos Aires ePrix saw Félix da Costa get his only win of the season after coming up through the field from eighth. Thereafter, he only had one non-points finish which occurred at the 2015 Berlin ePrix where he finished in eleventh position. At the end of the season, Félix da Costa had 51 points and secured 8th position in the standings.

2015–16.

For the 2015–16 Formula E season Félix da Costa retained his seat with Team Aguri but had several good races taken away from his due to unreliability. For the first 3 races of the season he raced alongside Nathanaël Berthon before the French driver was dropped in favor of season 1 driver Salvador Durán, who himself was replaced by Ma Qinghua just 3 races later in to the season. Due to DTM commitments da Costa was unable to race the 2016 Berlin ePrix and was himself replaced by René Rast for the race, he would return for the double header to end the season in London. Da Costa's best finish of the season was 6th place which he achieved 3 times, at Putrajaya, Punta del Este and London(1). During the 2015 Beijing ePrix he was running in the podium positions when the car had a mechanical failure putting him out of the ePrix. At the 2016 Buenos Aires ePrix he was going for a potential back to back win at the track when another car failure, this time a safety cap piece, put him out of the race. Again bad luck would strike the Portuguese driver at the 2016 Long Beach ePrix when he claimed a sensational pole position only to be disqualified due to his right rear tyre pressure being 0.3psi below minimum. At the 2016 London ePrix for race 2 da Costa finished an impressive 4th only to have a penalty for using too much power demote him to 9th, then a second penalty for track limits down to 11th. When the season had finished, Motorsport.com placed him 4th overall in the top 10 drivers of the season due to keeping cool at all times even when faced with so much bad luck.

2016–17.

On 3 July 2016, da Costa announced he would be leaving Team Aguri for season 3 but would be staying in Formula E with another outfit. He was subsequently confirmed as racing alongside Robin Frijns at Andretti.

2018–19.

He took the pole position and won in the 2018 Ad Diriyah ePrix, the first race of the season with BMW after 3 seasons without podiums. In the second round of 2019 Marrakesh ePrix, he was leading the race before his clash with his team mate Alexander Sims which caused his retirement of the race.

2019–20.

In 2019 da Costa joined 2018-19 Teams' Champion DS Techeetah to race alongside defending champion Jean-Eric Vergne.

Racing record.

Career summary.

As da Costa was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.<br>

Complete GP3 Series results.

Driver did not finish, but completed 90% of the race distance. ‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results.

Complete Formula E results.

Season still in progress.

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results.

Season still in progress.

António Maria de Mello Breyner Félix da Costa (born 31 August 1991) is a Portuguese professional racing driver who competes in the FIA Formula E Championship with the TECHEETAH Formula E team and in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Jota Sport.

安东尼奥·马利亚·德·梅洛·布勒尼尔·费利克斯·达·科斯塔(,1991年-8月31日)是一位葡萄牙赛车手,现时参加电动方程序的比赛。


Club career.

Early career.

Born in Jutiapa, Atlántida, Figueroa started his career with Victoria, before moving to Olimpia in 2003. He later became club captain. In 2007, Figueroa received offers from Major League Soccer clubs, one of which was revealed to be New England Revolution, but Olimpia's administrator, Osman Madrid, turned down all the offers. Figueroa had drawn previous interest from foreign clubs aside from those in MLS, including Club Toluca of Mexico making offers during 2007. However, during an interview, Madrid indicated the terms sought by other teams had been neither agreeable nor economically favourable to Olimpia or Figueroa.

Wigan Athletic (loan).

On 20 December 2007, Honduran newspaper "El Heraldo" reported that, as a result of interest expressed by the Premier League club Wigan Athletic, Figueroa would be travelling to England. In January 2008, Figueroa joined Wigan on loan for the rest of the 2007–08 season. In July 2008, after a complicated process involving work permit and visa issues, Figueroa rejoined Wigan on loan for a further six months, after which Wigan had the option to make the deal permanent following a successful loan spell.

Wigan Athletic.

On 23 December 2008, Wigan announced Figueroa had signed a three-and-a-half-year contract to join permanently. He scored his first goal for Wigan on 11 January 2009. He scored a close range header to secure a late winner against Tottenham Hotspur. On 12 December 2009, Figueroa scored a goal against Stoke City from his own half to put Wigan in the lead. Figueroa noticed Stoke goalkeeper Thomas Sørensen off his line at a free kick and struck the ball quickly to send the ball soaring over Sørensen and into the net. Although the match ended 2–2, Figueroa made the headlines the following day, with Alan Hansen calling it a candidate for Goal of the Season. Indeed, Figueroa's goal was chosen as Match of the Day's Goal of the Season for 2009–10. By the end of the 2009–10 campaign, he had made 81 appearances and scored twice in all competitions for Wigan.  The 2010–11 campaign proved difficult for Wigan and Figueroa. On 26 February 2011, he made his 100th Premier League appearance, playing the full 90 minutes at left-back in a 4–0 defeat against Manchester United at the DW Stadium. He scored a goal against fellow relegation struggling side Birmingham City on 19 March 2011 that led to a 2–1 win for Wigan. On the last day of the season, Wigan needed to win and have results go their way in order to secure Premier League safety. Figueroa provided the breakthrough for the away side in the 78th minute, setting up Hugo Rodallega to win the game 1–0 at Stoke City and confirm Wigan's safety in the Premier League.  During Wigan's first League Cup game of the 2012–13 season, Figueroa scored from 35 yards out, as Wigan defeated Nottingham Forest 4–1 at the City Ground. Wigan achieved success in the FA Cup winning the competition after beating Manchester City 1–0 in the final. Figueroa had played in every round of the FA Cup but was injured for the FA Cup final; however he did receive an FA Cup Winner's medal However, they did not have as much success in the Premier League and were relegated at the end of the season.

Hull City.

Newly promoted Premier League side Hull City announced the signing of Figueroa on a free transfer on 17 June 2013. He made his debut on the first day of the 2013–14 season in a 2–0 loss away at Chelsea. Figueroa reached an FA Cup Final for the second successive season after playing in every game prior to the final. Whereas he missed the 2013 FA Cup Final through injury, he was an unused substitute for the 2014 FA Cup Final after manager Steve Bruce changed the system to 5-3-2 with the manager's son Alex Bruce starting ahead of Figueroa. Hull lost the final 3-2 to Arsenal after extra-time. On 21 October 2014 Figueroa returned to Wigan Athletic on a month-loan and went on to play in the 0–0 draw against Millwall the same day. After five consecutive games for the club since joining on loan, Wigan extended his loan deal until 30 December 2014. He was recalled to Hull on 22 December 2014, along with Tom Ince from Nottingham Forest. On 28 May 2015, Figueroa was one of six players released by Hull manager Steve Bruce.

Colorado Rapids.

Following his release by Hull City, Figueroa joined MLS team Colorado Rapids on 7 August 2015. He made his Rapids and MLS debut on 14 August in a 1–0 defeat to the San Jose Earthquakes. Figueroa scored his first goal for Colorado on 29 August in a 2–1 win over Sporting Kansas City. Figueroa would play in 10 games for Colorado. He was unable to save the Rapids season as they failed to qualify for the playoffs and finished the year in last place for the Western Conference.

FC Dallas.

On 26 January 2016, Figueroa was traded to FC Dallas in exchange for General Allocation Money. He made his debut for FC Dallas on 6 March in a 2–0 win over the Philadelphia Union. Figueroa scored his first goal for Dallas on 4 August against Real Estelí in the CONCACAF Champions League, rocketing a shot into the top right corner in the 84th minute to give Dallas a 2–1 victory. He would start in the quarter-finals, semi-final and final to help Dallas win the 2016 U.S. Open Cup. Figueroa also made 28 MLS appearances to help lead Dallas to win the Supporters' Shield. In the playoffs, he would start both legs of Dallas's conference semi-final tie with the Seattle Sounders, but they would fall 4-2 on aggregate.  On 22 April, Figueroa scored his first MLS goal for Dallas in a 1–0 win over Sporting Kansas City. He was named to the MLS Team of the Week following a strong performance in a 1–1 draw with the Vancouver Whitecaps on 17 June. He scored his second league goal with Dallas on 23 August, blasting a ball into the top of the net in a 3-3 draw with the Houston Dynamo in a Texas Derby match. On 27 August, Figueroa would score against his former team to lead Dallas to a 2–0 win over Colorado. Dallas would finish in 7th place in the Western Conference and miss out on the playoffs in 2017 after a late season collapse saw them win 2 of their final 14 games, just one year after doing a US Open Cup and Supporters Shield double.  2018 saw a reduced role for Figueroa, with the additions of the younger Anton Nedyalkov and Marquinhos Pedroso competing for the left back spot. He would only make 20 appearances as he split time as a left back and center back. Figueroa's loan goal of the season came on 18 August in a 2–0 win over Minnesota United. He would help Dallas return to the playoffs in 2018. On 26 November, Figueroa had his contract option declined.

Houston Dynamo.

On 30 January, Figueroa signed with the Houston Dynamo. Figueroa made his Dynamo debut on 19 February 2019 in a 1–0 win over CD Guastatoya in the CONCACAF Champions League. He made his first league appearance for the Dynamo on 2 March in a 1–1 draw with Real Salt Lake.

International career.

Figueroa made his debut for Honduras in 2003 and has since gone on to score goals against Belize, Cuba, Jamaica, the United States and Australia. He was part of the Honduras squad at the 2005, 2007, 2011 (did not appear) and 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cups. He was also named in the 23-man squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Figueroa played out of position as a centre back at the World Cup, due to the form of Emilio Izaguirre. He was again named to Honduras' squad for the 2014 World Cup. Figueroa also represented Honduras at U-20 and U-23 level from 1999 to 2003 and 2001 to 2003 respectively, scoring once in three games for the U-20s and failing to score in eight outings with the U-23 side. He joined the U-23 squad as an overage player for the 2012 Summer Olympics. He has won over 160 caps, the most for Honduras, scoring six goals since his debut back in 2003. He is currently the national team captain.

Personal life.

Figueroa is married to Sandra Norales, a handball player who represents Honduras in that sport. Together they have 2 sons and 1 daughter. Figueroa is of Garifuna heritage. He is close friends with Honduran and Dynamo teammate Boniek Garcia.

Honours.

Club.

C.D. Olimpia  Wigan Athletic  FC Dallas

Maynor Alexis Figueroa Róchez (born 2 May 1983) is a Honduran professional footballer who plays as a centre back or left back for the Houston Dynamo in MLS. He also plays for the Honduras national football team, where he serves as captain. He spent most of his career at Wigan Athletic, where he made 179 Premier League appearances and won the 2013 FA Cup. Figueroa has made over 100 international appearances since 2003, including at three CONCACAF Gold Cups, two FIFA World Cups and the 2012 Olympics

梅诺·菲格罗亚(,1983年-5月2日),出生于洪都拉斯胡蒂亚帕,洪都拉斯足球运动员,曾效力英超球队维甘竞技、赫尔城,他现在仍是洪都拉斯国家队的成员。


泛非航空771号班机空难

Aircraft and crew.

The aircraft was an Airbus A330-200, registration 5A-ONG, manufactured in 2009, manufacturer's serial number (MSN) 1024. It was delivered in September 2009 and at the time of the accident it had approximately 1,600 hours total flying time and about 420 take-off and landing cycles. The aircraft was powered by two General Electric CF6-80E1 engines. It was configured for a capacity of 253 passengers. This particular flight carried 93 passengers and 11 crew. Most of the passengers were Dutch citizens returning from holiday in South Africa. An airport official stated that 13 Libyans, both passengers and crew, as well 70 Dutch nationals had lost their lives in the crash.  The flight crew consisted of the following:

Flight.

The flight originated at OR Tambo International Airport, serving Johannesburg, South Africa. Its destination was Tripoli International Airport, Libya. During the final approach and up to the moment of the accident the pilot had not reported any problems to the control tower. The aircraft crashed about short of Runway 09, outside the airport perimeter. The aircraft was destroyed by the impact and post-crash fire. The METAR in force at the time of the crash was HLLT 120350Z VRB01KT 6000 NSC 19/17 Q1008. The main runway of the airport (Runway 09/27) is long. Libyan Transport Minister Mohammed Ali Zidan ruled out terrorism as a cause. During the accident, the aircraft damaged a house on the ground. The homeowner, his wife, and their five children escaped unharmed. The house and a nearby mosque are scheduled to be demolished as part of the airport expansion plans. The first body of a non-Libyan passenger was repatriated to the Netherlands on 27 May 2010. On 21 June 2010 the Libyan authorities began clearing the accident site of Afriqiyah 771.  The accident is the second deadliest involving an Airbus A330 (after Air France Flight 447), and the second deadliest accident to have occurred in Libya. It also was the first fatal accident for Afriqiyah Airways.

Investigation.

The Libyan Civil Aviation Authority (LYCAA) opened an investigation into the accident. Airbus stated that it would provide full technical assistance to the authorities investigating the crash, and would do so via the French Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile (BEA). The South African Civil Aviation Authority sent a team to assist with the investigation. The BEA assisted in the investigation with an initial team of two investigators, accompanied by five advisors from Airbus. The Dutch Safety Board (, literally "Investigation Council for Safety") sent an observer. The flight recorders were recovered and sent to Paris for analysis soon after the incident.  Authorities reviewed the recordings made by the Flight Data Recorder. In August 2010, it was reported that preliminary investigations were complete. There was no evidence of any technical problems nor was there any fuel shortage. No technical or medical problems had been reported by the crew and they had not requested any assistance.  On 28 February 2013, the Libyan Civil Aviation Authority announced that they had determined that the cause of the crash was pilot error. Crew resource management lacked/was insufficient, sensory illusions, and the first officer's inputs to the aircraft side stick were a contributing factor in the crash. Fatigue was also named as a possible contributing factor in the accident.  The final report stated that the accident resulted from the pilots' lack of a common action plan during the approach, the final approach being continued below the Minimum Decision Altitude without ground visual reference being acquired, the inappropriate application of flight control inputs during the go-around and after the activation of the Terrain Awareness and Warning System, and the flight crew's lack of monitoring and controlling of the flight path.

Accident description.

The flight crew did not acquire any visual ground references before initiating their approach to land. The aircraft began its final descent for landing too early. The aircraft had descended to above ground when the terrain awareness and warning system sounded a "too low terrain" alarm in the cockpit. The captain ordered a go-around and the autopilot was turned off. The first officer put the nose of the aircraft up for 4 seconds and the thrust levers were set to go-around power. The aircraft pitched up to 12.3° nose up and the flight crew raised the landing gear and flaps. Shortly thereafter the co-pilot started making nose down inputs which caused the aircraft to pitch-attitude to reduce to 3.5° nose down. (The co-pilot could have been focused on the aircraft's speed, rather than its altitude.) The go-around pitch attitude was not maintained and the instructions from the flight director were not followed. (The report says that fatigue could have played a role in causing the first officer to focus solely on the airspeed.) The captain and the first officer were making inputs to the aircraft's side stick at the same time (although the dual inputs were not sufficient enough to trigger a "dual-input" warning). This action appears to be intended to provide assistance by the captain to fly the aircraft. This action led to confusion on who was flying the aircraft. The ground proximity warning system sounded "too low terrain," "sink rate," and "pull up" alarms as the aircraft lost more height and the co-pilot responded with a sharp nose-down input. Then the captain took control of the aircraft without warning, via the side stick priority button and maintained the nose-down input, while the first officer was simultaneously pulling back on his own side stick. Two seconds before impact with the ground the aircraft was at. The captain was also pulling his side stick fully back, suggesting both pilots were aware of the aircraft's impending collision with the ground. Two seconds later, the aircraft crashed into the ground at a speed and exploded.

Reactions.

Afriqiyah Airways issued a statement saying that relatives of the victims who wished to visit Libya would be transported and accommodated at Afriqiyah's expense. The Libyan authorities relaxed certain passport restrictions and guaranteed the granting of visas. By 15 May 2010 the airline opened the Family Assistance Centre in a hotel in Tripoli to care for family members and relatives of crash victims who were visiting Libya. The executive team of Afriqiyah, including the CEO and the chairperson of the board, met family members at the hotel. Some family members wanted to visit the crash site; they traveled to the site and placed flowers there. The airline permanently retired the flight number 771 and it has been re-designated to 788 for Tripoli to Johannesburg and 789 for the return flight.  Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands expressed her shock at hearing the news. The President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, also offered his condolences.  The 2020 novel "Dear Edward" by Ann Napolitano, which tells the story of a 12-year-old boy who is the sole survivor of a plane crash that kills all of the other 191 passengers, was inspired in part by the Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771 crash.

Passengers.

The passengers aboard Flight 771 were of various nationalities. All of the eleven crew members were Libyans. One passenger held dual citizenship. The following list reflects the airline's passenger nationality count of the victims. The airline released the manifest on the morning of 15 May 2010; the airline sent the list to several related embassies.  The sole survivor was 9-year-old Ruben van Assouw, a resident of the Dutch city of Tilburg, who was returning from a safari with his parents and brother (all of whom died in the accident). Van Assouw was taken to Sabia'a Hospital, south-east of Tripoli and later transferred to Al-Khadhra Hospital, Tripoli, to undergo surgery for multiple fractures in both legs. Dutch Foreign Ministry spokesman Ad Meijer said the child had no life-threatening injuries. Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and Captain Sabri Shadi, the head of Afriqiyah Airways, visited Van Assouw while he was hospitalised in Libya. On 15 May, he was transferred by air ambulance to Eindhoven in the Netherlands. Van Assouw was accompanied on the flight by his paternal aunt and uncle, who later gained custody of him.  Of the passengers, 42 were to continue to Düsseldorf, 32 to Brussels, seven to London, and one to Paris. Eleven of the passengers had Libya as their final destination. Of the 71 passengers identified as Dutch by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 38 were travelling with the Stip travel agency, 24 were travelling with the Kras travel agency, and 9, including the survivor, had their tickets booked independently. One of the Dutch victims was Joëlle van Noppen, singer in the former Dutch girl group WOW!.  On the evening of 12 May 2010, the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that one of its passport holders was on the plane, novelist Bree O'Mara.

Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771 was a scheduled international Afriqiyah Airways passenger flight that crashed on 12 May 2010 at about 06:01 local time (04:01 UTC) on approach to Tripoli International Airport. Of the 104 passengers and crew on board, the sole survivor was a 9-year-old Dutch boy named Ruben van Assouw. The crash of Flight 771 was the third hull-loss of an Airbus A330 involving fatalities, occurring eleven months after the crash of Air France Flight 447.

泛非航空771号班机(8U771)是一班由南非约翰内斯堡飞往利比亚首都的黎波里的泛非航空定期航班。2010年5月12日于当地时间上午6时(UTC+3,下同),执行此航班的空中客车A330-202型客机,在降落的黎波里国际机场时坠毁,机上93名乘客及11名机组人员中,只有一名10岁的荷兰籍男童生还。