During the siege of the airport, five civilian airliners belonging to Transair Georgia and Orbi Georgian Airways were hit by missiles allegedly fired by separatists in Sukhumi.

[1][2][3] Two Orbi Georgian Airways' Tupolev Tu-134As (65808 and 65809) were destroyed by Abkhaz small arms fire or missiles with no casualties.

The crew consisted of captain Geras Georgievich Tabuev, first officer Otar Grigorievich Shengelia, navigator Sergey Alexandrovich Shah, flight engineer Vladimir Vasilievich Nazarko, as well as two flight attendants; Ketevan Shalvovna Kvaratsheliya and Olga Mikhailovna Morgunova.

[1][2][5] An Orbi Georgian Airways Tu-154B aircraft (built in 1976 with registration 85163 and factory number 76А163) flying from Tbilisi and carrying civilians and internal security forces was on approach to Sukhumi-Babusheri Airport when it was struck by a surface-to-air missile, fired from a patrol boat by Abkhaz soldier Bulat Amayev.

The plane crash-landed on the airstrip; the ensuing fire killed 108 of the 132 passengers and crew,[5][6][7] making the incident the deadliest aviation disaster to occur in Georgia.