On 25 December 2003, the Boeing 727–223 operating the flight struck a building and crashed into the Bight of Benin while rolling for take off from Cotonou, killing 141 people.

[3] In regards to the result of the investigation, the Guinean government was urged to create reforms and regulations on the civil aviation authorities in the country.

The BEA, the commission responsible for the investigation, had also urged ICAO to examine provisions related to safety oversight and the FAA and the European EASA were asked to support the creation of an autonomous weight and balance calculation system on board every airliner.

[3] In an attempt to fill the void left by Air Afrique, multiple existing small airlines began to offer services to these major routes.

Among them was Union des Transports Africains de Guinée (also known as UTA), a regional airliner that was operated by Lebanese people in Guinea.

Many Lebanese businessmen had forged robust relationships with government officials to sign contracts within West Africa's public infrastructure sectors.

In return, Stevens turned a blind eye to Jamil's wide-scale business activities, allowing him to exercise relatively unchecked control over the lucrative diamond and fishing industriesHowever, the lack of direct flights to Lebanon caused dozens of Lebanese to board transit flights between multiple cities in West Africa.

Lebanon's flag carrier, Middle East Airlines, previously had operated flight routes in West Africa and later decided to terminate the service.

The aircraft was then delivered to Ariana Afghan Airlines following FAA authorization to operate a ferry flight to Kabul under a new registration of YA-FAK.

[3]: 8 As the Captain decided to discuss the matter with the flight engineer, the First Officer became angry and yelled at the Directorate General of UTA, who was sitting at the cockpit jump seat across him, due to the absence of information.

He stated that he would tell the management off as soon as the aircraft arrived in Beirut, later added that he would send messages to not allow anymore baggage or luggage weighing more than 30 kilograms.

[11][14] On 26 December, a Middle East Airlines plane carrying Lebanese Foreign Minister Jean Obeid and five army divers had arrived in Benin to assist with the rescue operation.

There were also people from Togo, Guinea, Kenya, Libya, Sierra Leone, Palestine, Peru, Syria, Nigeria, and also a youth wrestler from Iran.

[23][24] A congressional report from the United States Senate indicated that there were officials related to Hezbollah's West Africa operation on board Flight 141.

[3]: 2, 37 According to the final report, the investigation team faced great difficulties during their attempts to obtain adequate data and documentations from UTA.

[3]: 34 Testimonies gathered from surviving passengers and crew members revealed that the crash might have been caused by the presence of a weight and balance problem.

[3]: 34 Calculation made by BEA, in addition with the aircraft's fuel and other loads, concluded that the take-off weight of Flight 141 was somewhere between 81,355 and 86,249 kilograms (179,357 and 190,146 lb).

According to Boeing, with said calculation the aircraft would have required a much more rigorous and rapid input from the crew to pass the localizer building at the end of the runway.

The shifted centre of gravity to the forward hold, combined with the insufficient configuration, the short runway and the hot temperature at the airport, caused the aircraft's failure to take-off from Cotonou.

The Let L-410 was used for routes between multiple West African cities such as Freetown, Banjul and Abidjan, while the Antonov An-24 was used for mining companies and air ambulance.

UTA was also not able to provide, according to the final report, the slightest data on the flights that had been performed, flying hours and periods of service of the crew.

Try to make it your attitude and rule of lifeGuinean authorities should have prevented the creation of UTA following the airline's blatant disregard to the required regulations that it should have followed.

Furthermore, Guinean authorities somehow managed to immediately pass multiple controversial decisions made by UTA, such as the copy-pasted manual and the extension flight to Dubai, without proper examinations.

The international body that supervised the convention, ICAO, even stated in its 2001 report that Guinea had not established a regulatory mechanism on the country's aviation industry.

In response, ICAO was asked to actively help countries that were incapable of implementing aviation safety regulations to eventually develop a working system.

The report also asked the United States FAA and Europe EASA to create an autonomous system for measuring weight and balance.

The aircraft arrived in Beirut on the next day and another repatriation ceremony was held, attended by Lebanese President Émile Lahoud, Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, Speaker of the House Nabih Berri and Muslim clerics.

[34] The crash of Flight 141 revealed another source of influx of cash for Hezbollah, a prominent Lebanese Shiite militant group, from countries in West Africa.

A report made by United States Congress revealed a vast network of wealthy Lebanese nationals in multiple West African countries who had supported Hezbollah campaigns and provided funds to the organization.

[25] In October 2010, a Lebanese court sentenced the captain of the flight, Najib al-Barouni, to 20 years in prison after being found guilty of neglect.