Durban – Johannesburg – London

On May 15, 1948 at 07:20 AM, Durban – Johannesburg – London experienced a crash involving Douglas C-49 (DC-3), operated by Mercury Aviation, with the event recorded near Vrede Free State.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was flight at a mountains crash site.

13 people were known to be on board, 13 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 5, crew fatalities: 5, passengers on board: 8, passenger fatalities: 8, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The aircraft left Durban in the early morning on a flight to London via Johannesburg. While cruising in poor weather conditions, the aircraft hit the slope of Mt Spitzkop located 32 km south of Vrede, in the Witkoppens Mountain Range. All 13 occupants were killed. At the time of the accident, the aircraft was off track by eight miles, probably due to navigational error on part of the crew, caused by the lack of visibility due to poor weather conditions.

Aircraft reference details include registration ZS-BWY, MSN 6341, year of manufacture 1943.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately -27.4265°, 29.1637°.