Not wanting to distract from the tragedy at the core of this thread, there appear to be contributors who seriously regard Libya as a "normal" country. I cannot imagine why anyone would book a flight on an airline that was personally inaugurated by the No. 2 madman in the world Muammar al-Gaddafi (the No. 1 spot is still held by Kim Jong Il). Add to this the comments by people with personal experience of Tripoli airport (see this thread), and the whole concept of Libyan aviation becomes a ridiculous matter.