The Forgotten Flight: Terrorism, Diplomacy and the Pursuit of Justice

by Stuart H. Newberger

Overview

On 19 September 1989, 170 people were killed when French Airlines UTA Flight 772 was destroyed by a suitcase bomb while en route from Chad to Paris. Despite being one of the deadliest acts of terrorism in history, it remained overshadowed by the Lockerbie tragedy that had taken place ten months earlier. Both attacks were carried out at the instruction of Libyan dictator Qaddafi, but while “Lockerbie” became synonymous with international terrorism, UTA 772 became the “forgotten flight”.

As a lawyer, Stuart H. Newberger represented the families of the seven Americans killed in the UTA 772 attack. Now he brings all the pieces together to tell its story for the first time, revealing in riveting prose how French investigators cracked the case and taking us inside the courtroom to witness the litigation against the Libyan state that followed. In the age of globalization, The Forgotten Flight provides a fascinating insight into the pursuit of justice across international borders.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781786070920
Publisher:	Oneworld Publications
Publication date:	06/13/2017
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Stuart H. Newberger is a senior partner at international law firm Crowell & Moring. His practice handles complex international disputes, many involving the actions of governments. He lives in McLean, Virginia.

Table of Contents

Prologue: The Site vii

Part I Death in the Skies, Deals with the Devil 1989-2001

1 19 September 1989 3

2 The Prelude 11

3 Lockerbie 24

4 The Plot 32

5 Crossroads 45

6 The First Fake-Out 56

7 The Second Fake-Out 66

8 The American Way 76

9 A Change in the Rules 87

10 The Getaway 97

Part II The Journey for Justice 2001-2013

11 Gemini 111

12 Chief of Mission 129

13 The Turnaround 144

14 The Forgotten Flight 162

15 The Race 177

16 Accountability 199

17 The Last Mission 221

18 Unanimous Consent 246

19 Espousal 273

Epilogue: Memorial 287

Author's Note on Sources 296

Acknowledgments 303

Index 311

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Stuart Newberger is our 21st-century Perry Mason, a charismatic American trial lawyer who has methodically marshaled the evidence to sue regimes in Libya and Iran, winning judgments worth hundreds of millions of dollars on behalf of victims of international terrorism. His gripping story is told in THE FORGOTTEN FLIGHT, an account of the downing of Flight 772 by Libyan intelligence agents. Newberger’s book is both a thriller and a detective story, but – more importantly – it shows how the rule of law can be used to make terrorists financially accountable for crimes against innocents."


—Kai Bird, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author of The New York Times bestseller The Good Spy: The Life and Death of Robert Ames

Editorial Reviews

04/24/2017
On Sept. 19, 1989, a suitcase bomb exploded on UTA Flight 772 en route to Paris from N’Djamena, Chad. The DC-10 crashed in Niger’s Ténéré Desert, killing all 170 people on board. Six Libyans were implicated in the heinous terrorist act, but the machinations of French President Jacques Chirac and Libyan leader Moammar al-Gadhafi yielded only convictions in absentia and a paltry settlement for the families of the victims. The world took little note of this chilling tragedy, coming as it did nine months after the Lockerbie bombing, which claimed bigger headlines as well as U.S. and U.K. involvement. Newberger, a Washington, D.C., attorney who had gained stature as a terrorism-victims litigator, attracted the attention of the owner of the ill-fated UTA aircraft. Their case set in motion a barrage of legal and diplomatic wrangling to secure a settlement for the American families of the UTA victims. Newberger deftly breaks down the diplomatic flourishes and political motivations of the four countries involved in a complex web of determining culpability for state-sponsored terrorism. This is an engrossing and approachable narrative that skillfully distills the intricacies of this niche of international law and sensitively conveys the sorrows of the loved ones seeking a measure of justice. (June)

Publishers Weekly

‘In the war against terrorism, lawyers can make a difference. Author Stuart Newberger demonstrates what one committed lawyer can accomplish. A must read for all those interested in how the rule of law can be an important weapon in the ongoing struggle.’

Kenneth Feinberg

‘Gripping, shocking, forensic: a true legal thriller that captured me entirely.’

Philippe Sands

‘Gripping...The Forgotten Flight is both a thriller and a detective story, but – more importantly – it shows how the rule of law can be used to make terrorists financially accountable for crimes against innocents.’

Kai Bird

'This is an engrossing, well-paced and tautly written book by an author who...has complete mastery over his material.'

Literary Review Adrian Weale

‘Newberger’s well-researched book ensures that UTA Flight 772 will no longer be forgotten.’

Wall Street Journal

‘Newberger’s well-researched book ensures that UTA Flight 772 will no longer be forgotten.’

Wall Street Journal

"The story of a 1989 plane crash that killed 170 people and eventually became "the greatest murder case in French history."Unlike the Lockerbie airline disaster of late 1988—when Pan Am Flight 103 was destroyed by a bomb, crashing into Lockerbie, Scotland, and killing 270 people—a similar terrorist attack, on UTA Flight 772, en route to Paris from Chad, which wrecked in the desert of Niger a few months later, did not garner such sensational news. Both bombs were ultimately tied to Libyan terrorists acting from the top down. In fact, as attorney Newberger painstakingly chronicles in his first book, the crashing of Flight 772 on Sept. 19, 1989, was completely overshadowed by the Lockerbie tragedy. The author, who also represented terrorist hostage Terry Anderson in his case against Iran in the early 1990s, recounts the process the attorney underwent, thanks to some committed American diplomats, State Department lawyers, and brave victims' families, to seek accountability from Libya and win an even larger settlement than that for the Lockerbie victims, a settlement extracted from Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. The suit, Pugh v. Libya (2003), was started by Douglas Matthews, a former pilot-turned-aircraft company owner who had owned the DC-10 craft that crashed in the desert; in 2002, he approached Newberger to investigate a possible legal claim against Libya. Drawing from the extensive criminal research conducted since the crash, the author and his clients put together a strong case, as he delineates here. It is a detail-rich forensic process—fascinating and, ultimately, rewarding, despite the upper-echelon government deals with Qaddafi, who cooperated solely to finagle an end to U.N. sanctions. A capably sorted delineation of a complex, important court case against Libyan terrorism that required years to extract accountability and compensation for the victims."


—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2017-04-30
The story of a 1989 plane crash that killed 170 people and eventually became "the greatest murder case in French history."Unlike the Lockerbie airline disaster of late 1988—when Pan Am Flight 103 was destroyed by a bomb, crashing into Lockerbie, Scotland, and killing 270 people—a similar terrorist attack, on UTA Flight 772, en route to Paris from Chad, which wrecked in the desert of Niger a few months later, did not garner such sensational news. Both bombs were ultimately tied to Libyan terrorists acting from the top down. In fact, as attorney Newberger painstakingly chronicles in his first book, the crashing of Flight 772 on Sept. 19, 1989, was completely overshadowed by the Lockerbie tragedy. The author, who also represented terrorist hostage Terry Anderson in his case against Iran in the early 1990s, recounts the process the attorney underwent, thanks to some committed American diplomats, State Department lawyers, and brave victims' families, to seek accountability from Libya and win an even larger settlement than that for the Lockerbie victims, a settlement extracted from Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. The suit, Pugh v. Libya (2003), was started by Douglas Matthews, a former pilot-turned-aircraft company owner who had owned the DC-10 craft that crashed in the desert; in 2002, he approached Newberger to investigate a possible legal claim against Libya. Drawing from the extensive criminal research conducted since the crash, the author and his clients put together a strong case, as he delineates here. It is a detail-rich forensic process—fascinating and, ultimately, rewarding, despite the upper-echelon government deals with Gadhafi, who cooperated solely to finagle an end to U.N. sanctions. A capably sorted delineation of a complex, important court case against Libyan terrorism that required years to extract accountability and compensation for the victims.

Kirkus Reviews