1969 Aswan Ilyushin Il-18 crash 1969 Aswan Ilyushin Il-18 crash On 20 March 1969, a United Arab Airlines Ilyushin Il-18 crashed while attempting to land at Aswan Airport. 100 of the 105 passengers and crew on board were killed in the crash. The flight was a non-scheduled international passenger service from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Aswan, Egypt. The aircraft was carrying home Muslim worshippers who had won a pilgrimage through a lottery. It was dark in the early morning when the flight attempted to land and blowing sand had reduced visibility to 2–3 kilometers. After two unsuccessful attempts to land, the aircraft was making a
Aswan Dam realized that he could not legitimately portray himself as the leader of pan-Arab nationalism if he could not defend his country militarily against Israel. In addition to his development plans, he looked to quickly modernize his military, and he turned first to the U.S. The American Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and the American President Dwight Eisenhower told Nasser that the U.S. would supply him with weapons only if they were used for defensive purposes and accompanied by American military personnel for supervision and training. Nasser did not accept these conditions, but then he looked to the USSR for