Rotterdam – Palma – Tamanrasset – Fort Lamy – Port Harcourt

On October 11, 1966 at 12:00 AM, Rotterdam – Palma – Tamanrasset – Fort Lamy – Port Harcourt experienced a crash involving Canadair C-4 North Star, operated by Hank Wharton, with the event recorded near Garoua North.

The flight was categorized as cargo and the reported phase was flight at a plain, valley crash site.

4 people were known to be on board, 0 fatalities were recorded, 4 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 0.0%.

Crew on board: 4, crew fatalities: 0, passengers on board: 0, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. The crew was supposed to make a cargo flight from Rotterdam to Port Harcourt with intermediate stop at Palma de Majorca, Tamanrasset and Fort Lamy, carrying a load of 3,600 machine guns for the Biafra Government. As the official documentation could not be obtained via the Dutch Authorities for exportation to Africa, the crew flew from Rotterdam to Birmingham, UK before continuing to Spain. While in cruising altitude over Cameroun, the crew lost his orientation and was unable to locate his position with certainty. Due to fuel exhaustion, all four engines stopped and the captain decided to attempt an emergency landing. A belly landing was completed in a prairie and while contacting ground, the airplane broke into four pieces before coming to rest. All four crew members were rescued. It was reported the crew failed to obtain the appropriate charts to fly over West Africa.

Aircraft reference details include registration I-ACOA, MSN 137, year of manufacture 1948.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 9.3044°, 13.3843°.