South African Airways -SAA - Suid Afrikaanse Lugdiens - SAL

Boeing 747-200

On November 27th 1987 flight SA295 was scheduled to depart from Taipei's Chiang Kai Shek Airport at 13:00 UTC for Mauritius' Plaisance Airport and Johannesburg, South Africa on a scheduled international air transport service. Due to adverse weather and the late arrival of a connecting flight the departure time was delayed and the airplane took off at 14:23 UTC with 149000 kg of fuel, 43225 kg of baggage and cargo, 140 passengers and a crew comprising 5 flight crew members and 14 cabin crew members. The calculated flight time was 10 hours 14 minutes. The take-off was normal. At 14:56 UTC the crew communicated with Hong Kong Radar and thereafter routine position reports were given to the flight information centres (FICs) at Hong Kong, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Colombo, Cocos Islands and Mauritius. At 15:55 a routine report was made to the Operator's base at Johannesburg. The information given was that the airplane had taken off from Taipei at 14:23, was flying at FL310 and that the arrival time at Mauritius was estimated as 00:35 UTC. At about 22:30 the pilot called Mauritius FIC, using HF radio, and advised that the aircraft had been at position 070° East at 22:29 at FL350 and that the time at position 065° East was estimated as 23:12. At 23:13 the position report of 065° East at FL350 was given to Mauritius FIC. The estimated time of arrival (ETA) over position 060° East was given as 23:58. About 23:45 the master fire warning alarm sounded on the flight deck. Somebody, probably the pilot, inquired where the warning had come from and received the reply that it had come from the main deck cargo. The pilot then asked that the check list be read. Some 30 seconds later somebody on the flight deck uttered an oath. The pilot called Mauritius Approach Control at 23:49 and said that they had a smoke problem and were doing an emergency descent to FL140. The approach controller gave clearance for the descent and the pilot asked that the fire services be alerted. The controller asked if full emergency services were required to which the pilot replied in the affirmative. At 23:51 the approach controller asked the pilot for his actual position. The pilot replied: "Now we have lost a lot of electrics, we haven't got anything on the aircraft now". At 23:52 the approach controller asked for an ETA at Plaisance and was given the time of 00:30. At 23:52:50 the pilot made an inadvertent transmission when he said to the senior flight engineer: "Hey Joe, shut down the oxygen left". From this time until 00:01:34 there was a period of silence lasting 8 minutes and 44 seconds. From 00:01:34 until 00:02:14 the pilot inadvertently transmitted instructions, apparently to the senior flight engineer, in an excited tone of voice. Most of the phrases are unintelligible. At 00:02:43 the pilot gave a distance report as 65 nautical miles. This was understood by the approach controller to be the distance to the airport. In fact it was the distance to the next waypoint, Xagal. The distance to the airport at that point was approximately 145 nautical miles. At 00:02:50 the approach controller recleared the flight to FL50 and at 00:03:00 gave information on the actual weather conditions at Plaisance Airport, which the pilot acknowledged. When the approach controller asked the pilot at 00:03: 43 which runway he intended to use he replied one three but was corrected when the controller asked him to confirm one four. At 00:03:56 the controller cleared the flight for a direct approach to the Flic-en-Flac (FF) non-directional beacon and requested the pilot to report on approaching FL50. At 00:04:02 the pilot said: "Kay". From 00:08:00 to 00:30:00 the approach controller called the aircraft repeatedly but there was no reply. The aircraft crashed into the Indian Ocean at a position determined to be about 134 nautical miles North-East of Plaisance Airport. The accident occurred at night, in darkness, at about 00:07 UTC. The local time was 04:07. Within a few days drifting pieces of wreckage were found, but it took until January 28th, 1988 for the main wreckage field to be found on the Ocean floor, at a depth of 4400 meters. The cockpit voice recorder was recovered on 6 January 1989.

Boeing 707

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.

Vickers Viscount

On 13th March 1967 Vickers Viscount aircraft ZS-CVA, "Rietbok", was on a scheduled public transport flight No. SA 406 from Port Elizabeth to Johannesburg via East London and Bloemfontein. Its Estimated Time of Arrival at East London was 1714 GMT, but the weather there was poor. The captain had indicated that he would probably overfly East London, but that he would have a look at conditions there before deciding to do so. The last communication from the aircraft was when it notified East London Airport Control that it was "at 2,000 ft. with the coastline in sight". It is estimated that the aircraft was then between 20 and 15 nautical miles from the Airport and that the time was approximately 1709 GMT. At 1710.08 GMT the aircraft crashed into the sea. The approximate position of the crash was 33°13.45’ S. , 27°38.3’ E. On board were Captain Gordon Benjamin Lipawsky, First Officer Brian Albert Richard Trenwith, 3 cabin crew and 20 passengers. Air-sea rescue operations were put in hand promptly, but there were no survivors. Bits of floating wreckage, consisting mainly of cabin interior fittings, were recovered by naval vessels and other pieces were washed ashore. The main wreckage of the aircraft is believed to he lying at a depth of between 180 and 220 feet, approximately 1½ miles off-shore. Extensive salvage operations were attempted, but were hindered by murky water, a current up to 8 kts and dangerous sea conditions. The aircraft was lost and all 25 occupants were killed.

Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)

According to the copilot the aircraft flew below the clouds at about 300-500 ft above the ground. It was the pilot-in-command's intention to fly through the Katberg Pass below cloud and as the aircraft approached the mountains the cloud ceiling became lower and the pilot was faced with a critical situation. He called for METO (maximum except takeoff) power and in an attempt to clear the hills the right wing first made contact with the trees and then the right engine propeller cut into the rising ground. The aircraft came to rest against a rock face approximately 250 yd from the initial point of impact with the trees and approximately 500 ft from the top of the hill. Two crew members were killed while five other occupants were injured.

Lockheed 18 LodeStar

The crew was performing a training flight when control was lost for unknown reason. The twin engine aircraft crashed into the sea few km off Scottburgh. All three crew members were rescued while the aircraft sank and was lost.

De Havilland DH.106 Comet

Owned by BOAC, the aircraft was operated by South African Airways with a SAA crew under flight SA201. It left Rome-Ciampino Airport at 1932LT (25 minutes delay due to a technical problem) with an ETA at Cairo Airport at 2220LT. While cruising at an estimated altitude of 35,000 feet off the Italian coast, the aircraft disappeared from radar screens at 2004LT and crashed into the Tyrrhenian Sea, about 17 km off San Lucido. SAR operations were quickly dispatched but eventually suspended few days later as no trace of the aircraft nor the 21 occupants was found.

Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)

Enroute from Livingston to Jo'burg-Palmietfontein Airport, the crew encountered poor weather conditions and the pilot-in-command lost his orientation. In low visibility, the captain decided to divert to Carolina Airport but on final, the aircraft was too low and hit a rock and crashed 2 km short of runway. All 19 occupants evacuated safely while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)

While cruising in clouds, the airplane crashed on Mt Ingeli (2,500 meters high) located about 17 km southeast of Kokstad. The aircraft christened 'Paardeberg' was destroyed and all 17 occupants were killed. It is believed that the accident was the result of a controlled flight into terrain.

Lockheed 18 LodeStar

On landing, an undercarriage collapsed. The aircraft went out of control, veered off runway and hit a drainage ditch. All 15 occupants were unhurt while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Lockheed 18 LodeStar

The twin engine aircraft was on delivery when it crashed in unknown circumstances on landing at Cape Town-Wingfield Airport. All three crew members were unhurt while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair. The reason for the occurrence remains unknown.

Lockheed 18 LodeStar

While flying in poor weather conditions and low visibility, the crew did not realize his altitude was insufficient. The twin engine aircraft hit a hill near Elands Bay and was destroyed. All 10 occupants were killed, among them three civilians. Crew: Adm Guy W. Hallifax, Col Harold E. Cilliers, Lt Col Gordon P. Shearer, Cpt Fred W. Le Roux. Passengers: Lt J. P. Meyer, Sgt John W. Shelly, Sgt Andries P. Van Wyk, C. P. McMichael, Morris Kaplan, Alexandre Kendierski.

Junkers W.34

Crashed shortly after takeoff from George Airport, killing both crew. The aircraft was christened 'Sir George Grey'.

Junkers JU.86

The crew was performing a delivery flight to South Africa when an unexpected situation forced the pilot to attempt an emergency landing in a desert area located some 70 miles east of Juba, Sudan. While both crew were unhurt, the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Junkers JU.52

Shortly after takeoff, engine number one and three failed. Pilots attempted to make an emergency landing but after touch down, aircraft veered off runway and came to rest in flames. All occupants were evacuated while the aircraft was destroyed by a post crash fire. A female passenger died few days later from her injuries.

Junkers F.13

Crashed in unknown circumstances.