Windhoek-JG Strijdom | Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives

The aircraft was loaded with cargo intended for Namibia, early the morning of the accident. The pilot reported that the right-hand engine suffered a loss of power at the point where he rotated the aircraft for take-off. During the attempt to abort the take-off the aircraft skidded over the end of the runway and crashed down an embankment. The pilot and his passenger escaped with minor injuries, but the aircraft was subsequently destroyed by the post impact fire.

Probable cause:

During the investigation it was found that the aircraft was overloaded.

Final Report:

Crash of a Tupolev TU-154M in the Atlantic Ocean: 24 killed

Date & Time: Sep 13, 1997 at 1710 LT

Type of aircraft:

Tupolev TU-154

Operator:

Registration:

11+02

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Military

Survivors:

Site:

Lake, Sea, Ocean, River

Schedule:

Bonn – Niamey – Windhoek – Cape Town

MSN:

89A813

YOM:

1989

Flight number:

GAF074

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

Some 65 nautical miles west off the Namibian coast, a US Air Force Lockheed C-141B Starlifter collided with a German Air Force Tupolev 154M in mid-air. Both aircraft crashed, killing all 33 occupants. The Tupolev 154M (11+02), call sign GAF074, operated on a flight from Cologne/Bonn Airport in Germany to Kaapstad, South Africa. En route refueling stops were planned at Niamey, Niger and Windhoek, Namibia. On board were ten crew members and 14 passengers. The C-141B, (65-9405), call sign REACH 4201, had delivered UN humanitarian supplies to Windhoek and was returning to the U.S. via Georgetown on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic Ocean. On board were nine crew members. GAF074 departed Niamey, Niger at 10:35 UTC. REACH 4201 took off from Windhoek at 14:11 UTC and climbed to its filed for and assigned cruise level of 35,000 feet (FL350). At the same time, GAF074 was not at its filed for cruise level of FL390 but was still at its initially assigned cruise level FL350. Windhoek ATC was in sole and continuous radio contact with REACH 4201, with no knowledge of GAF 074's movement. Luanda ATC was in radio contact with GAF074, but they were not in radio contact with REACH 4201. Luanda ATC did receive flight plans for both aircraft but a departure message for only REACH 4201. At 15:10 UTC both aircraft collided at FL350 and crashed into the sea.

Probable cause:

The primary cause of this accident, in my opinion, was GAF 074 flying a cruise level (FL350) which was not the level they had filed for (FL390). Neither FL350 nor FL390 were the correct cruise levels for that aircraft's magnetic heading according to International Civil Aviation Organization regulations. The appropriate cruise level would have been FL290, FL330, FL370, FL410, etc. A substantially contributing factor was ATC agency Luanda's poor management of air traffic through its airspace. While ATC communications could be improved, ATC agency Luanda did have all the pertinent information it needed to provide critical advisories to both aircraft. If ATC agency Luanda was unable to contact GAF 074, it should have used other communication means (HF radio, telefax or telephone) to contact REACH 4201 through ATC agency Windhoek, as outlined in governing documents. Another substantially contributing factor was the complicated and sporadic operation of the Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunications Network (AFTN). Routing of messages to affected air traffic control agencies is not direct and is convoluted, creating unnecessary delays and unfortunate misroutings. Specifically, ATC agency Windhoek did not receive a flight plan or a departure message on GAF 074, which could have been used by the controllers to identify the conflict so they could have advised REACH 4201. In my opinion, the absence of TCAS was not a cause or substantially contributing factor, but the presence of a fully operational TCAS could have prevented the accident." (William H.C. Schell, jr., Colonel, USAF President, Accident Investigation Board).

Crash of a Rockwell Grand Commander 690B in the Atlantic Ocean: 2 killed

Date & Time: Dec 5, 1984

Type of aircraft:

Rockwell Grand Commander 690

Operator:

Registration:

ZS-JRF

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Delivery

Survivors:

Site:

Lake, Sea, Ocean, River

Schedule:

Windhoek – Abidjan

MSN:

690-11491

YOM:

1978

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

The crew was in charge to deliver the aircraft in Europe and departed Windhoek bound for Abidjan. While cruising over the water, the aircraft crashed in unknown circumstances in the Atlantic Ocean. No trace of the aircraft nor the crew was found.

Probable cause:

Due to lack of evidences, the cause of the accident could not be determined.

Crash of a Boeing 707-344C in Windhoek: 123 killed

Date & Time: Apr 20, 1968 at 2050 LT

Type of aircraft:

Boeing 707

Operator:

Registration:

ZS-EUW

Flight Phase:

Takeoff (climb)

Flight Type:

Scheduled Revenue Flight

Survivors:

Yes

Site:

Airport (less than 10 km from airport)

Schedule:

Johannesburg - Windhoek - Luanda - Las Palmas - Frankfurt - London

MSN:

19705/675

YOM:

1968

Flight number:

SA228

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

116

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

123

Captain / Total flying hours:

18102

Captain / Total hours on type:

4608.00

Copilot / Total flying hours:

4109

Copilot / Total hours on type:

229

Aircraft flight hours:

238

Circumstances:

A Boeing 707-344C passenger jet, registered ZS-EUW, was destroyed in an accident near Windhoek-Strijdom International Airport, Namibia. The aircraft was operating on South African Airways' flight SA228 from Johannesburg to London via Windhoek, Luanda, Las Palmas and Frankfurt. The first leg of the flight was uneventful. Local weather conditions at Windhoek were fine: there was no cloud and no wind. The night was particularly dark as there was no moon and the horizon was indistinct. At 20:49 the aircraft took off from Windhoek runway 08 into conditions of complete darkness. The aircraft climbed to a height of about 650 feet above ground level. It leveled off and began to descend. Thirty seconds later, the aircraft flew into the ground at a point some 5,327 metres from the end of the runway. The level of the ground at the point of impact was 179 feet below the airport elevation or approximately 100 feet below the point of lift-off. The impact occurred at a ground speed of approximately 271 knots. The initial impact was in a slightly left-wing-down attitude. The fuselage and each of the 4 engine pods gouged deep trenches in the ground and the aircraft then began to break up as its momentum carried it onward. Wreckage was strewn over an area some 1,400 metres long and some 200 metres wide, and 2 separate fires broke out, presumably through the ignition of fuel on impact. Five passengers were seriously injured while 123 other occupants were killed.

Probable cause:

In regard to the cause of the accident:
(1) The effective cause of the accident was the human factor, and not any defect in the aircraft or in any of the engines or flight instruments.
(2) After a normal take- off and retraction of the landing gear, and while the aircraft was approaching an estimated height of 650 feet, the flaps were fully retracted and the engine output reduced from take- off power to climb power. There is no reason to suppose that these steps were not taken in the correct sequence and at the prescribed indicated airspeeds. In that phase of flight these alterations in flap configuration and engine power would have caused the aircraft to level off and then lose height
(a) unless the pilot checked that tendency and maintained a climbing attitude by appropriate action, or
(b) until the aircraft gained much more speed.
(3) The aircraft levelled off and lost height, and during the short period in which it did so the pilot appears to have acted as if he believed that the aircraft was still climbing. He appears to have altered the stabilizer trim to maintain the aircraft in its same pitch attitude, which he apparently believed was an attitude of climb, but which was in fact an attitude of descent. In that situation, which lasted for about 30 seconds, the aircraft lost approximately 750 feet in height and flew into the ground.
(4) The co-pilot failed to monitor the flight instruments sufficiently to appreciate that the aircraft was losing height.
The following causes probably contributed in greater or lesser degree to the situation described above:
(a) take-off into conditions of total darkness with no external visual reference;
(b) inappropriate alteration of stabilizer trim;
(c) spatial disorientation;
(d) pre-occupation with after-take-off checks.
The following causes might have contributed in greater or lesser degree:
(a) temporary confusion in the mind of the pilot on the position of the inertial-lead vertical speed indicator, arising from the difference in the instrument panel layout in the C model of the Boeing 707-344 aircraft, as compared with the A and B models, to which both pilots were accustomed;
(b) the pilot's misinterpretation, by one thousand feet, of the reading on the drum-type altimeter, which is susceptible to ambiguous interpretation on the thousands scale;
(c) distraction on the flight deck caused by a bird or bat strike, or some other relatively minor occurrence.

Final Report: