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

On April 20, 1968 at 08:50 PM, Johannesburg - Windhoek - Luanda - Las Palmas - Frankfurt - London experienced a crash involving Boeing 707, operated by South African Airways -SAA - Suid Afrikaanse Lugdiens - SAL, with the event recorded near Windhoek-JG Strijdom Khomas Region.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was takeoff (climb) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

128 people were known to be on board, 123 fatalities were recorded, 5 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 96.1%.

Crew on board: 12, crew fatalities: 12, passengers on board: 116, passenger fatalities: 111, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. 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.

Aircraft reference details include registration ZS-EUW, MSN 19705/675, year of manufacture 1968.