Continuing the line that began in the early 1960s with the de Havilland D.H.125 Jet Dragon, the British Aerospace 125-800 made its maiden flight on May 26, 1983, incorporating state-of-the-art avionics and a pair of Garrett turbofans. The Botswana Defence Force acquired OK1 in 1988, when it joined Z1 Transport Squadron.

With just the skeletal remains of the starboard engine mounting still attached, OK1 is the subject of much discussion at Kuito in the aftermath of the incident. Although the aircraft looks relatively unscathed, it was heavily damaged.

The starter/generator and alternator hang at the end of wiring looms and cables at Kuito. Although the airframe sustained severe damage, the sturdy biz jet was rebuilt by BAe and sold to a new owner in Brazil as PT-OBT. It survives today and is regularly operated by a company in Georgia, USA, as N812GJ.

On August 7, 1988, Angolan Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23ML Flogger-G C479, flown by Cuban pilot Capt Albert Olivares Horta, fired a pair of air-to-air missiles at Botswana Defence Force BAe 125 serial OK1 after an Angolan air traffic control oversight put the latter in proscribed airspace.

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23ML Flogger-G serial C479 as marked during the shootdown of OK1 on August 7, 1988. Note the Vympel R-24T infra-red homing missile (NATO reporting name AA-7 Apex J mounted on the port wing. Angola’s Floggers are still very much in service and operational.