East African Airways

Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)

The aircraft departed Dar es Salaam with three crew and 16 passengers. Flight EC087 was scheduled to call at Lindi and Nachingwea with the service terminating at Nachingwea. Due to the non availability of fuel at Dar es Salaam, the aircraft made an unscheduled stop at Mtwara to refuel with sufficient fuel for the return service EC088 to Dar es Salaam. The weather at Mtwara was reported fine with the wind light and variable. At the time of the landing, the wind direction was given as 030 and 8 knots. The aircraft made the approach and landing using standard procedures and touched down at a point some 1,000 feet from the threshold of runway 19. After a ground roll of 150 feet, the aircraft commenced a swing to the left side of the runway, it then rolled another 350 feet and swung to the right continued on this course, leaving the runway and skidding for approximately 180 feet before it came to rest having turned 135° from the direction of the landing. Both landing gear assys collapsed due to excessive side loads applied to the structure, substantial damage was caused to the centre section structure and nacelles. The port propeller was damaged. The passengers and crew were able to evacuate the aircraft with the aid of tile ground rescue services. Two passengers were taken to hospital and treated for shock.

Vickers VC-10

East African Airways Flight EC-720 to London via Addis Ababa and Rome departed Nairobi at 06:55 hours. The flight to Addis Ababa was uneventful and the VC10 landed there at 08:23. During the transit stop at Addis Ababa, some freight was off-loaded together with 40 passengers. Fifteen passengers joined the flight and the airplane was refueled. Start up clearance was given at 09:21 hours and the aircraft taxied out six minutes later via the eastern taxiway for takeoff on runway 07. The tower advised the aircraft that the wind was 5 knots and variable in direction. At 09:32 hours, as the aircraft was backtracking to the takeoff point, the pilot reported a number of dead birds on the runway. He requested that these birds be removed before the aircraft took off. A fire truck was dispatched to take care of this. The aircraft continued to backtrack down the runway and turned in the pad at the end. It then lined up on the runway and stopped a short distance from the threshold. At 09:38:40 hours, the tower cleared the aircraft for takeoff. Shortly after the aircraft had passed the mid-point of the runway, at or just below the V1 speed, the nose wheel ran over a steel jacking pad. This jacking pad belonged to a Cessna 185 that had departed 4:40 earlier. The pad punctured the right hand nose wheel tire. A loud bang was heard and severe vibration was felt on the flight deck. Almost immediately after the nose wheel tire had burst, the nose of the aircraft rose momentarily and then come down. The flight crew decided to abort the takeoff. The engines were throttled back and reverse thrust was selected. The aircraft continued down the runway, veering slightly to the right. Then the no.1 rear main tire burst. Just before the aircraft reached the end of the runway, it veered slightly to the left and ran approximately parallel to the centre line. After crossing a storm drain located at the end of the runway at right angles to the centre line, the aircraft became momentarily airborne as it left the lip of the embankment on which the 60 m stopway was laid. As it did so, the left outer wing of the aircraft struck a steel lattice tower forming part of the approach lighting system to runway 25. This ruptured the no. 1A fuel tank and the released fuel promptly ignited. Sixty meters beyond the end of the runway the aircraft fell heavily on to the lower ground 10.6 m below the runway level. It broke up immediately on impact and after sliding a short distance, came to rest and caught fire.

Canadair C-4 North Star

The crew was completing a local training flight at Nairobi-Embakasi Airport. On approach, the crew decided to shut down an engine to simulate a failure. By mistake, the instructor feathered the wrong propeller. Due to insufficient speed, the airplane stalled and struck the ground short of runway threshold, bounced and flew for 1,5 mile before crashing in flames. All three crew members were evacuated while the aircraft was destroyed by fire.

Douglas DC-3

Crashed while taking off from Entebbe Airport. There were no casualties but the aircraft was seriously damaged.

Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)

While cruising at the altitude of 10,500 feet in marginal weather conditions, enroute from Dar es-Salaam to Nairobi, the airplane struck the southeast slope of Mawenzi Peak (the second highest peak of Mt KIlimanjaro). The wreckage was reached by rescuers on May 22. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all 20 occupants have been killed. At the time of the accident, the mountain was shrouded by clouds and the visibility was poor.

De Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide

The American writer Ernest Hemingway and his wife Mary were completing a safari in the region of the Muchison Falls in Uganda when their Cessna 180 registered VP-KLI hit a utility pole and crashed in a field on January 23. As they were wounded, it was decided to transfer them to Entebbe and a DH.89 of East African Airways was chartered. While taking off from Butiaba Airstrip, the Dragon exploded and crashed in flames. The aircraft was destroyed and all four occupants were seriously injured and burned.

De Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide

On touchdown, the aircraft skidded, went out of runway and came to rest on an embankment. All eight occupants escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

De Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide

On touchdown, the aircraft went out of control, overturned and came to rest upside down. There were no casualties.

De Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide

Enroute, both engines failed, forcing the pilot to attempt an emergency landing in the bush. While the aircraft crash landed and was damaged beyond repair, all 8 occupants were rescued.