[Voor NEDERLANDSE site, klik "Nederlands" in balk bovenaan de pagina]

In the early hours of 30 September 1975 a Malev passenger plane crashed into the Mediterranean, minutes before landing at Beirut airport. On board were 50 passengers and 10 crewmembers. None survived.
The European relatives of the victims (including the Hungarian) were told that nothing or no one was found.

Only years later they found out that 37 bodies were recovered and that 20 of these bodies had been identified. Most of the identified were Lebanese. The other remains of 17 unidentified persons went into a mass grave within days. Where? Nobody tells. Until 2008 the Hungarian Government even denied the recovering of the remains.

The cause of the crash is unknown. The weather was fine, the plane was new and in a good condition, the crew was highly experienced. An official investigation was held, but was very brief. The ICAO organisation officially had a 1 page  ADREP Report, which does not mention the retrieval of the bodies. In the statistics the cause remains undetermined.

In 2004 the Hungarian Government set aside a sum of 100 million HUF (approximately € 400,000) for the location of the aircraft and repatriation of the remains on board of the plane. Until now such activities have not been initiated.

Dutch public broadcast (NOVA) reported on the story and its aftermath on Saturday 20, 2008, partly in English: http://www.uitzendinggemist.nl/afleveringen/1139322

YOU TUBE documentary: www.youtube.com/watch


This site aims at gathering information, findings and news on the lost Malev 240. 
Reactions are welcome at thelostmalev@gmail.com