On 14 March 1972, Sterling Airways Flight 296 crashed into a mountain ridge on approach to Dubai in Al Hail, Fujairah, United Arab Emirates.

[2] The aircraft involved was Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle 10B3, powered by two Pratt & Whitney JT8D-9 engines, operated by Sterling Airways, with registration OY-STL.

The last A and B technical inspections were performed one day before the accident flight on 13 March 1972, before departure from Copenhagen.

[3]: 9 [4] Sterling Airways Flight 296 was chartered by the tour company Tjæreborg Rejser to take 106 Europeans home from vacations in Ceylon (present day Sri Lanka).

The flight from Colombo to Copenhagen was scheduled to make refuelling stops in Bombay, Dubai, and Ankara.

The Danish cockpit crew consisted of Captain Ole Jørgensen, 35, and First Officer Jørgen Pedersen, 30.

The length of the route was 1,045 nautical miles (1,935 km; 1,203 mi) the majority of it passing over the Arabian Sea, while the route had 5 waypoints for reports on position: SALMON, SEAHORSE, BLUE WHALE, DOLPHIN and SPEARFISH, located 292, 531, 706 and 854 miles (185, 541, 983, 1308 and 1582 km) respectively, from Bombay.

The crew received information that the bearing on them from the D0 radio beacon (Dubai VOR) is 084, and the descent from FL 310 would begin at 21:55.

[3]: 10–11  The crews of other aircraft reported an overcast sky with the formation of large cumulus clouds over the coast.

The crew of BOAC Flight 833 (also flying to Dubai, though departing from Calcutta) indicated that the coast was poorly visible on meteorological radar due to thunderstorms, although the crew of SABENA Flight 352 (which also departed Bombay but was bound for Athens), on the contrary, reported a clear sky.

At 21:56, The crew reported leaving flight level 135 and the controller instructed the flight to maintain 2,000 feet (610 m) relative to the level of Dubai Airport (1016 hPa) with a report on occupying a height of 2000 and observing the airfield.

The dispatcher also warned: "the ADF radio station antenna was reduced in length due to the runway extension, and 'DO' is not giving much power.

10 later seconds at 22:04 pm local time, the aircraft, at an altitude of 1,600 feet (490 m), 50 miles from Dubai airport and 10 miles north of the continuation of the longitudinal axis of runway 30 at a speed of 190 knots (220 mph; 350 km/h), the aircraft's left wing hit a mountain ridge.

[3]: 3–4  Several residents of Kalba were digging a ditch around a hut to divert rainwater, when at 22:00 local time an aircraft flew over the city at a low altitude.

One of the residents stated that the aircraft flew so low that its navigation lights were clearly visible.