The flight departed Jeddah for Damascus, Syria at 14:30 hours GMT. The pilot set a course of 346ø magnetic at an altitude of 16500 feet. When abeam Medina the course was altered to a heading of 343ø magnetic to correct for an estimated right drift of 6ø. The pilot later tuned both the automatic direction finders to the Amman non-directional beacon and carried out a track and distance check while passing abeam. This indicated that the aircraft was either on track with a very strong headwind or was farther east of the track than it should be; the pilot accepted the former alternative. Amman was not visible at this time and there was no forward visibility. After passing abeam Amman both ADF’s were tuned on an NDB which was assumed to be Damascus which gave a fairly steady QDM of 015ø magnetic. Course was then altered from 343ø to 015ø to home on this station. After unsuccessful attempts to contact Damascus on VHF the pilot succeeded (at 18:20 GMT) in making contact with Damascus on HF. He reported the aircraft’s position as 5 minutes south of Damascus at 12000 feet and stated that his VHF was out of order. The aircraft was cleared to descend first to 11500, then at 18:36 to 8500 feet, At 18:43 the FIC gave the flight the following information – landing runway 20. QNH 1005.8 mbs. , 29.71 inches, report downwind. When the FIC asked (18:50 GMT) whether the pilot could see the aerodrome, the pilot replied “…cannot see the aerodrome now but my approximate ETA Damascus in 10 minutes.” The pilot was further convinced that he had a strong headwind. This was confirmed in his mind by the delayed arrival over the beacon and also based on his track and distance check when passing abeam Amman. The pilot flew 50 minutes beyond his ETA on the course of 015ø magnetic and still homing on the same station which he thought was the Damascus NDB. At this time he said that he suspected that this radio bearing might be in error. He tried to tune his ADF’s to Beirut NDB and Baghdad NDB but was only able to identify Beirut without obtaining a bearing. Many calls were made on the VHF but no replies were received. An emergency was then declared. When the pilot realized that he was lost and was planning an emergency landing, he sighted a river (the Euphrates) and decided to follow it eastbound. After 15 minutes flight a large town was sighted and the pilot decided to land there. An emergency wheels-up landing was carried out approximately 5 miles north-northeast of Deir-ez-Zor at 20:10 GMT. Probable Cause: The probable cause of the accident was inadequate navigational procedure on the part of the pilot.