Africa

While approaching Got El Afrag Airstrip, the crew request the permission to complete a low pass to confirm if the landing gear were down. At low height, the pilot made a turn to the right when the right wing struck the ground, causing the aircraft to crash and burn. All 11 occupants were killed.

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.

The twin engine airplane departed the oasis of Al-Bahariya on a flight to Cairo, carrying a crew of two and seven passengers, among them one child. En route, weather conditions worsened and the pilot apparently lost his orientation. In such conditions, the crew decided to reduce his altitude and attempted an emergency landing. The airplane belly landed in a desert area located approximately 100 km northeast of Al-Bahariya. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair while all nine occupants survived the accident. Rescue teams were unable to localize the airplane and all nine occupants died of thirst few days later. The wreckage was eventually found by camels more than three years later, on June 1st 1978.

While parked at Ndola Airport, the aircraft was struck by another Zambian Air Cargoes C-130 registered 9J-RCY. Following the collision, a fire erupted and both aircraft were destroyed. There were no casualties. 9J-RBX was empty at the time of the accident. For more details, refer to file 9J-RCY.

The aircraft departed from Cambridge, England, about mid-morning on 9 April 1968, and landed at Benina, where a night stop was made. The flight was continued on 10 April, with landings at Entebbe and Lusaka, where government-owned cargo was unloaded. On 11 April, the aircraft was due to be ferried to its normal base at Ndda, but the Air Turbine Motor (A.T.M) was found to be unserviceable. As the fault could not be ascertained and spares were not available, external power was used for initial engine start and all pre-taxi and taxi checks were carried out satisfactorily. On reaching the take-off holding point, reverse thrust checks were carried out and on returning to ground idle on No. 2 engine, the nacelle overheat light came on. On pulling the fire shut-off handle on No. 2 engine, the overheat light went out immediately. The Flight Engineer carried out a visual inspection of the engine and reported that there were no visible signs of fire. It was assumed that the overheat warning had been due to the tail wind and reverse thrust check, a possible occurrence under the prevailing conditions. A dry motorover was carried out to reduce Turbine Inlet Temperature (T.1.T) and a restart made. All indications were normal and a further reverse thrust check was carried out on engines 2 arid 3. All readinge were normal. The normal checks were carried out, engine run-up and pre-take-off checks made and the Captain briefed the crew regarding emergency in flight procedures. The take-off was completed and the flight to Ndola was without incident and, except for the A.T.M., all systems functioned normally. On approaching -Ndola, the "field approach check and the "pre-landing check" were carried out. According to the statement of the Flight Engineer, all.systems were normal. A normal landing was made, using reverse thrust on all four engines. Towards the end of the taxi run, the First Officer advised the Captain that: "Now we have no ATM". The Captain gave orders to cut engines 1 and 4 when on the perimeter track and the aircraft proceeded on engines 2 and 3. On reaching the parking area, a right turn was commenced to enter the area. Shortly after this point, both co-pilot and engineer claim to have advised the Captain that No. 2 engine nacelle overheat warning light was on. The Captain momentarily considered whether the warning was genuine or spurious, decided to accept that it was genuine and called for No. 2 "Fire T. Handle" to be pulled on No. 2 engine was then shut down. When No. 2 engine was shut down, the aircraft was being marshalled and was commencing a turn to the left and approaching a parked Hercules aircraft, 9J-RBX, approximately 100 ft ahead. It was the intention that aircraft 9J-RCY be parked alongside 9J-RBX. Aircraft 9J-RCY was approaching the port side of 9J-RBX at an angle of about 45°, and was in the final turn to park alongside 9J-RBX when steering and brake pressures became exhausted. The nose wheel castored, this being seen by the ground crew around 9J-RBX, and 9J-RCY straightened up and collided with the port wing of 9J-RBX, No. 3 engine propeller cutting through some 12 ft of the wing. Fire broke out immediately

On approach to Mueda, the airplane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile and crashed in flames few km short of runway. All three crew members were killed.

The four engine aircraft with dual registration F-RAFB and 43748 was engaged in a flight from Saint-Denis de la Réunion to Paris with an intermediate stop at Djibouti City, on behalf of the Groupe de Liaisons Aériennes Ministérielles (GLAM). It arrived at Saint-Denis Airport in the morning and was supposed to stay an overnight in Saint-Denis. Thus, the crew was released for the day but finally called for a departure in the evening. 55 seconds after takeoff from runway 13 in light rain, the pilot was contacted by the controller at the airport who told him he was turning to the wrong direction and asked him to make an immediate turn to the left while gaining altitude. The pilot acknowledged the message when the left wing struck two araucarias and crashed in flames in a wooded area located about 5 km southeast of the airfield. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire and only one passenger survived while 19 other occupants were killed, among them General Charles Ailleret, Chief of Staff of the French Army. He was returning to Paris following an inspection of the French troops stationed in the Indian Ocean. The only survivor was Mrs Michèle Renard, personal nurse of General Ailleret.
Crew:
Cpt Pradier, pilot, †
Cpt Gaëtan, pilot, †
S/Lt Roulot, pilot, †
Lt Pezet, radio navigator, †
Lt Dombey, radio navigator, †
S/Lt Brando, radio navigator, †
Adj Ferdonnet, mechanic, †
Adj Bouzereau, mechanic, †
Sgt Guiho, mechanic, †
Adj Berrier, steward, †
Sgt Burigo, steward, †
Sgt Rouzeau, steward. †
Passengers:
Gen Charles Ailleret, †
Mrs Liliane Ailleret, Gen Ailleret spouse, †
Mrs Annick Ailleret, Gen Ailleret daughter, †
Gen Henri Carles, chief of staff, †
Col Fehner, Aviation chief of staff, †
Cpt Philipon, Gen Ailleret personal doctor, †
Cpt Commerçon, Gen Ailleret personal aide, †
Mrs Michèle Renard, Gen Ailleret personal nurse.

During the final approach to Moroni-Hahaya Airport following an uneventful flight from Dar es-Salaam, the crew failed to realize that his altitude was insufficient. On short final, the right wing struck approach lights. The captain increased engine power in an attempt to make a go-around when the airplane went to an excessive nose-up attitude, stalled and crashed into the sea near to the shore. None of the 16 occupants survived the crash.

On final approach to Port Harcourt Airport, the four engine aircraft crashed in unknown circumstances few hundred yards short of runway threshold. All five occupants were killed. They were completing a cargo mission on behalf of the Government of Biafra.