South African Airways Flight 295
Encyclopedia
South African Airways
Flight 295 (flown by a Boeing 747 named The Helderberg) was a commercial flight that suffered a catastrophic in-flight fire in the cargo area
and crashed into the Indian Ocean east of Mauritius
on 28 November 1987, killing everyone on board. An extensive salvage operation was mounted in order to try to recover the flight data recorders, one of which was successfully recovered from a depth of 4900 metres (16,076.1 ft)—the deepest successful salvage operation ever conducted. The official inquiry, headed by Judge Cecil Margo
, was unable to determine the cause of the fire, leading to a number of conspiracy theories being advanced in the following years.
Flight 295 was a Boeing 747-244B Combi
, named The Helderberg (registration ZS-SAS; serial number 22171) that was delivered to the airline in 1980. The aircraft took off on 27 November 1987 from Chiang Kai Shek International Airport, on a flight to Johannesburg
via Mauritius. Dawie Uys served as the captain of the flight.
The Boeing 747-244B Combi is a variant of the aircraft that permits the mixing of passengers and airfreight on the main deck according to load factors on any given route and Class B cargo compartment regulations. Flight 295 had 140 passengers and six pallets of cargo on the main deck. The master waybill
s stated that 47000 kilogram of baggage and cargo were loaded on the plane. A Taiwanese customs official performed a surprise inspection of some of the cargo; he did not find any cargo that could be characterized as suspicious.
Thirty-four minutes after departure, the flight contacted Hong Kong air traffic control to obtain clearance from waypoint
ELATO (22°19′N 117°30′E) to ISBAN. A position report was made over ELATO at 15:03:25, followed by waypoints SUNEK at 15:53:52, ADMARK at 16:09:54 and SUKAR (12°22′N 110°54′E) at 16:34:47. The aircraft made a routine report to the South African Airways base at Jan Smuts (ZUR) at 15:55:18.
At some point after this during the flight, a fire developed in the cargo section on the main deck. The fire was probably never extinguished prior to impact. The 'smoke evacuation' checklist calls for the aircraft to be depressurised, and for two of the cabin doors to be opened. However, no evidence exists as to whether this checklist was followed, or whether the doors were actually opened. A crew member might have gone into the cargo hold to try to fight the fire. A charged fire extinguisher was later recovered from the wreckage on which investigators found molten metal.
The following communication was recorded with Mauritius air traffic control:
of its position, its report was incorrectly understood to be relative to the airport rather than its next waypoint, which caused the subsequent search to be concentrated too close to Mauritius. The United States Navy
sent P-3 Orion
aircraft from Diego Garcia
, which were used to conduct immediate search and rescue
operations in conjunction with the French Navy
. By the time the first surface debris was located 12 hours after impact, it had drifted considerably from the impact location. Oil slicks and eight bodies showing signs of extreme trauma appeared in the water. All 140 passengers and 19 crew on the manifest were killed.
The South African Navy
sent the SAS Tafelberg
and the SAS Jim Fouche to assist in the recovery of debris and remains. The ocean tug
s John Ross and Wolraad Woltemade also attended the scene, along with the Department of Environment Affairs vessels RS Africana and RS Sonne
The South Africans mounted an underwater search, named Operation Resolve, to try to locate the wreckage. The pingers
attached to the flight data recorder
s were not designed for deep ocean use; nevertheless, a two month long sonar
search for the pingers was carried out before the effort was abandoned on 8 January 1988 when the pingers were known to have stopped transmitting. Steadfast Oceaneering, a specialist deep ocean recovery company in the USA, was contracted at great expense to find the site and recover the cockpit voice recorder
and flight data recorder
. The search area is described as being comparable in size to that of the RMS Titanic, with the water at 5000 metres (16,404.2 ft) being considerably deeper than any previously successful salvage operation. However against all odds, the wreckage was found within two days of the sonar search of the area commencing.
Three debris fields were found: 19°10′30"S 59°38′0"E, 19°9′53"S 59°38′32"E and 19°9′15"S 59°37′25"E. These locations are 1.5, 2.3 and 2.5 km apart, which suggested that the fuselage broke up before impact. On 6 January 1989, the cockpit voice recorder was salvaged successfully from a record depth of 4900 metres (16,076.1 ft) by the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Gemini, but the flight data recorder was never found.
Van Zyl took the voice recorder to the National Transportation Safety Board
in Washington, DC, to show his goodwill and to ensure neutral observers. Van Zyl believes that if he kept the CVR in South Africa he could have been accused of covering up the truth. At the NTSB, Van Zyl felt frustration that the degraded CVR, which had been in the deep ocean for fourteen months, did not initially yield any useful information. Around 28 minutes into the recording the CVR indicated that the fire alarm sounded. Fourteen seconds after the fire alarm, the circuit breakers began to pop. Investigators believe that around 80 circuit breakers failed. The CVR cable failed 81 seconds after the alarm. The recording revealed the extent of the fire.
Van Zyl discovered that the front-right pallet was the "seat" of the fire. The manifest said that pallet mostly comprised computers in polystyrene
packaging. The investigators said that the localized fire likely came in contact with the packaging and produced gases that accumulated near the ceiling. They also said that gases ignited into a flash fire that affected the entire cargo hold. The cargo fire of Flight 295 did not burn lower than one meter above the cargo floor. The walls and ceiling of the cargo hold received severe fire damage. Van Zyl ended his investigation without discovering why the fire started.
, with cooperation from the aircraft manufacturer, Boeing, and the United States National Transportation Safety Board
.
The official report determined that while the Helderberg was over the Indian Ocean, a fire had occurred in the main deck cargo hold, originating in the front right-hand cargo pallet. Aircraft parts recovered from the ocean floor showed fire damage in temperatures over 300 °C (572 °F); tests showed that temperatures of 600 °C (1,112 °F) would have been required to melt a carbon-fibre
tennis racket recovered from the crash site, leading Boeing specialist Fred Bereswill to speculate that an oxidant such as ammonium perchlorate
was present. The reason for the loss was not specified, but two possibilities were detailed in the official report: Firstly, that the crew became incapacitated due to smoke penetration into the cockpit. Secondly, that the fire weakened the structure and the tail separated leading to impact with the ocean. The commission concluded that it was impossible to allocate blame to anyone for the fire.
The manufacturer is quoted in the report as having "contested" any scenario that involved a break-up of the aircraft and thus the commission did no more than mention the two possible scenarios in its final report as incidental to the primary cause of the accident.
The commission determined that the primary cause of the aircraft's loss was that fire detection and suppression facilities in class B cargo bays (the type used aboard the 747-200 Combi) were inadequate. The accident alerted aviation authorities worldwide to the fact that the regulations regarding class B bays had lagged far behind the growth in capacity of such cargo bays. The exact source of ignition was never determined, but the report concluded that sufficient evidence was found to confirm that the fire had burned for some time and that it might have caused structural damage.
visited Boeing's headquarters to inquire about the Combi's design. Boeing's fire test in the Combi models did not accurately match the conditions of the Helderberg's cargo hold; in accordance with federal U.S. rules, the Boeing test involved setting a bale of tobacco
leaves ablaze. The fire stayed within the cargo hold. The air in the passenger cabin was designed to have a marginally higher pressure than cargo area hold, so if a crew member opened the door to the cargo hold, the air from the passenger cabin would flow into the cargo hold, stopping any smoke or gases from exiting through the door.
Investigators devised a new test involving a cargo hold with conditions similar to the conditions of Flight 295; the plastic covers and extra pallets provided fuel for the fire, which would spread quickly before generating enough smoke to activate smoke alarms. The hotter flame achieved in the new test heated the air in the cargo hold. This heated air was more pressured than normal, and overcame the pressure differential between the cargo hold and the passenger cabin. When the door between the passenger and cargo holds was open, smoke and gases therefore flowed into the passenger cabin.
The test as well as evidence from the accident site proved to the investigators that the design of the Boeing 747 Combi did not provide enough fire protection to the passengers. The FAA confirmed this finding in 1993 with its own series of tests.
After the accident South African Airways discontinued use of the Combi and the Federal Aviation Administration
introduced new regulations in 1993 specifying that manual fire fighting must not be the primary means of fire suppression in the cargo compartment of the main deck. Complying with these new standards required weight increases, which made the 747 Combi economically unviable on some routes. Nevertheless the 747 Combi remained in the 747 product line up until 2002, when the last 747-400 Combi was delivered to KLM.
reported that the inquiry into the in-flight fire that destroyed SAA Flight 295 might be reopened because the airline had allegedly confirmed that its passenger jets had carried cargo for Armscor
, a South African arms agency. The RAeS journal, Aerospace, asserted: "It is known that the crew and passengers were overcome by a main deck cargo fire, and the ignition of missile rocket fuel is one cause now under suspicion." A complaint against the newspaper that first published the allegations, Weekend Star, was lodged by Armscor.
However the inquiry was not reopened, and this might have spawned a number of conspiracy theories
concerning the nature of the cargo that caused the fire, which in turn fueled public doubts about the outcome of the initial inquiry. Examples of such theories include:
The television show Carte Blanche
dedicated an investigation into a number of these allegations.
A South African government chemist examined a microscopic particle on the nylon netting next to the front-right pallet on Flight 295. The chemist found that the airflow patterns on the iron suggested that it traveled at a high velocity while in a molten state; therefore the fire on Flight 295 may have not been a flash fire triggered by packaging. Fred Bereswill, the investigator from Boeing, said that this would suggest that the source of the fire would have had properties like a sparkler
, with the source including its own oxidizing agent
. A British fire and explosion analyst examined the exterior skin of the aircraft which had been located above the pallet; the analyst found that the skin became as hot as 300 degrees Celsius
. Bereswill said that it would be difficult for a fire to burn through the skin of an aircraft in-flight because of the cool airflow outside of the aircraft.
Klatzow put forward a theory that the fire likely involved substances that would not normally be carried on a passenger aircraft and that the fire was not likely a wood, cardboard, or plastic fire. South Africa was under an arms embargo
at the time; the South African government therefore had to buy arms clandestinely. His theory postulates that the South African government placed a rocket system in the cargo hold, and that vibration caused unstable ammonium perchlorate
to ignite.
Klatzow contends that conversation of the crew suggests that the fire started above the South China Sea
, shortly after takeoff; he believes that this indicates that the voice recorder was not working for a long period of the flight or that the crew turned it off. If this is the case, he says it is then likely that an unknown number of the passengers would have already died from smoke inhalation from the first fire. Klatzow believes that theory is consistent with reports that find most of the passengers were in the first class area of the plane at the front as smoke from the back of the plane forced them to move forward. The captain did not land the aircraft directly after the fire, Klatzow argues, because if he had he would have been arrested for endangering the lives of his passengers and it would have caused a major problem for South Africa, costing the country and SAA R400 million. Klatzow argues that the captain, who was also a reservist in the South African Air Force, would therefore have been ordered to carry on to South Africa in hopes of making it there before the aircraft's structural integrity gave in. These points have been refuted by others.
On 20 July 2011, retired SAA
captain Clair Fichardt announced that he had made a statement in connection with the missing Jan Smuts air traffic control tapes, after he was persuaded to do so by Klatzow. Fichardt claimed that captain James Deale admitted to handing the tapes to captain Mickey Mitchell, who was chief pilot at the Johannesburg control centre on the night of the crash. Deale would further have stated that Gert van der Veer, head of SAA, and lawyer Ardie Malherbe were present during the transfer of the tapes. Earlier, during the TRC hearings, Klatzow had cross-examined Van der Veer, Mitchell and Vernon Nadel, the Operations Officer who was on duty.
, investigated apartheid era atrocities. In particular, the Helderberg accident was investigated to determine if there was any truth behind the conspiracy theories that the Margo Commission had covered up or missed any evidence that might implicate the previous government . David Klatzow was invited by the TRC to explain his theories and cross-examine witnesses. Unlike most other hearings of the TRC, the hearing into SA 295 was conducted in camera
, and without any representation from the Civil Aviation Authority
(CAA); Klatzow considered the CAA untrustworthy because it had participated in the official enquiry, which he considered flawed. A number of key aspects of Klatgzow's theory hinged on his criticism of the actions of Judge Margo during the official enquiry, yet Judge Margo was not summoned to answer any of the allegations made against him.
The commission concluded that nothing listed in the cargo manifest could have caused the fire. Following public pressure, the TRC records were released into the public domain in May 2000. Upon receiving the documents, Transport Minister Dullah Omar
stated that the inquiry would be reopened if any fresh evidence was discovered. The police were tasked to investigate if there was any new evidence, and to make a recommendation to the minister. In October 2002, the minister announced that no new evidence had been found to justify re-opening the enquiry.
Taiwanese authorities stated that 58 passengers began flying in Taipei, including 30 Taiwanese citizens, 19 South Africans, 3 Japanese, two Mauritians, one Dane, one Dutch, one British, and one West German. The other passengers transferred from other flights arriving in Taipei, and as such their nationalities were not known to Taiwanese authorities.
At least two passengers died of smoke inhalation.
(also known as Air Emergency and Air Crash Investigation) aired an episode titled "Fanning the Flames" (also titled "Cargo Conspiracy" and "Mystery Fire" in some countries) which documents the crash.
South African Airways
South African Airways is the national flag carrier and largest airline of South Africa, with headquarters in Airways Park on the grounds of OR Tambo International Airport in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni, Gauteng. The airline flies to 36 destinations worldwide from its hub at OR Tambo International...
Flight 295 (flown by a Boeing 747 named The Helderberg) was a commercial flight that suffered a catastrophic in-flight fire in the cargo area
Cargo aircraft
A cargo aircraft is a fixed-wing aircraft designed or converted for the carriage of goods, rather than passengers. They are usually devoid of passenger amenities, and generally feature one or more large doors for the loading and unloading of cargo...
and crashed into the Indian Ocean east of Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
on 28 November 1987, killing everyone on board. An extensive salvage operation was mounted in order to try to recover the flight data recorders, one of which was successfully recovered from a depth of 4900 metres (16,076.1 ft)—the deepest successful salvage operation ever conducted. The official inquiry, headed by Judge Cecil Margo
Cecil Margo
Judge Cecil Stanley Margo was a member of the South African judiciary. He was the fifth child of Saul Lewis Margo and Amelia Hilson, South African immigrants of eastern European Jewish descent.-Early life and studies:He received his law degree at the University of the Witwatersrand and was called...
, was unable to determine the cause of the fire, leading to a number of conspiracy theories being advanced in the following years.
History of the flight
South African AirwaysSouth African Airways
South African Airways is the national flag carrier and largest airline of South Africa, with headquarters in Airways Park on the grounds of OR Tambo International Airport in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni, Gauteng. The airline flies to 36 destinations worldwide from its hub at OR Tambo International...
Flight 295 was a Boeing 747-244B Combi
Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a wide-body commercial airliner and cargo transport, often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet, or Queen of the Skies. It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first wide-body ever produced...
, named The Helderberg (registration ZS-SAS; serial number 22171) that was delivered to the airline in 1980. The aircraft took off on 27 November 1987 from Chiang Kai Shek International Airport, on a flight to Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
via Mauritius. Dawie Uys served as the captain of the flight.
The Boeing 747-244B Combi is a variant of the aircraft that permits the mixing of passengers and airfreight on the main deck according to load factors on any given route and Class B cargo compartment regulations. Flight 295 had 140 passengers and six pallets of cargo on the main deck. The master waybill
Waybill
A waybill or consignment note is a document issued by a carrier giving details and instructions relating to the shipment of a consignment of goods. Typically it will show the names of the consignor and consignee, the point of origin of the consignment, its destination, route, and method of...
s stated that 47000 kilogram of baggage and cargo were loaded on the plane. A Taiwanese customs official performed a surprise inspection of some of the cargo; he did not find any cargo that could be characterized as suspicious.
Thirty-four minutes after departure, the flight contacted Hong Kong air traffic control to obtain clearance from waypoint
Waypoint
A waypoint is a reference point in physical space used for purposes of navigation.-Concept:Waypoints are sets of coordinates that identify a point in physical space. Coordinates used can vary depending on the application. For terrestrial navigation these coordinates can include longitude and...
ELATO (22°19′N 117°30′E) to ISBAN. A position report was made over ELATO at 15:03:25, followed by waypoints SUNEK at 15:53:52, ADMARK at 16:09:54 and SUKAR (12°22′N 110°54′E) at 16:34:47. The aircraft made a routine report to the South African Airways base at Jan Smuts (ZUR) at 15:55:18.
At some point after this during the flight, a fire developed in the cargo section on the main deck. The fire was probably never extinguished prior to impact. The 'smoke evacuation' checklist calls for the aircraft to be depressurised, and for two of the cabin doors to be opened. However, no evidence exists as to whether this checklist was followed, or whether the doors were actually opened. A crew member might have gone into the cargo hold to try to fight the fire. A charged fire extinguisher was later recovered from the wreckage on which investigators found molten metal.
The following communication was recorded with Mauritius air traffic control:
| Transcript of communication with Mauritius air traffic control | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Speaker | Dialog | Comment from official enquiry |
| 23:48:51 | 295 | Eh, Mauritius, Mauritius, Springbok Call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations... Two Niner Five. |
|
| 23:49:00 | ATC Air traffic control Air traffic control is a service provided by ground-based controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and in the air. The primary purpose of ATC systems worldwide is to separate aircraft to prevent collisions, to organize and expedite the flow of traffic, and to provide information and other... |
Springbok Two Nine Five, eh, Mauritius, eh, good morning, eh, go ahead. | |
| 23:49:07 | 295 | Eh, good morning, we have, eh, a smoke, eh, eh, problem and we're doing emergency descent to level Flight level A Flight Level is a standard nominal altitude of an aircraft, in hundreds of feet. This altitude is calculated from the International standard pressure datum of 1013.25 hPa , the average sea-level pressure, and therefore is not necessarily the same as the aircraft's true altitude either... one five, eh, one four zero. |
|
| 23:49:18 | ATC | Confirm you wish to descend to flight level one four zero. | |
| 23:49 20 | 295 | Ja, we have already commenced, an, due to (a) smoke problem in the aeroplane. | |
| 23:49:25 | ATC | Eh, roger, you are clear to descend immediately to flight level one four zero. | |
| 23:49:30 | 295 | Roger, we will appreciate if you can alert the fire, ehp, ehp eh, eh | |
| 23:49:40 | ATC | Do you wish to eh, do you request a full emergency? | |
| 23:49:48 | 295 | Okay Joe, kan jy...vir ons | Okay Joe can you...for us |
| 23:49:51 | ATC | Springbok Two Nine Five, Plaisance Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport , known as SSR Airport or previously as Plaisance Airport, is an international airport serving the island country of Mauritius. The airport is located at Plaine Magnien, near Plaisance and southeast of Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius... . |
|
| 23:49:54 | 295 | Sorry, go ahead? | |
| 23:49:56 | ATC | Do you, eh, request a full emergency please, a full emergency? | |
| 23:50:00 | 295 | Affirmative, that's Charlie Charlie Procedure word Procedure words or prowords are words or phrases limited to radio telephone procedure used to facilitate communication by conveying information in a condensed standard form. - OUT :... . |
|
| 23:50:02 | ATC | Roger, I declare a full emergency, roger. | |
| 23:50:04 | 295 | Thank you. | |
| 23:50:40 | ATC | Springbok Two Nine Five, Plaisance. | |
| 23:50:44 | 295 | Eh, go ahead. | |
| 23:50:46 | ATC | Request your actual position please and your DME Distance Measuring Equipment Distance measuring equipment is a transponder-based radio navigation technology that measures distance by timing the propagation delay of VHF or UHF radio signals.... distance? |
|
| 23:50:51 | 295 | Eh, we haven't got the DME yet. | |
| 23:50:55 | ATC | Eh, roger and your actual position please. | |
| 23:51:00 | 295 | Eh, say again. | |
| 23:51:02 | ATC | Your actual position. | |
| 23:51:08 | 295 | Now we've lost a lot of electrics, we haven't got anything on the, on the aircraft now. | |
| 23:51:12 | ATC | Eh, roger, I declare a full emergency immediately. | |
| 23:51:15 | 295 | Affirmative. | |
| 23:51:18 | ATC | Roger. | |
| 23:52:19 | ATC | Eh, Springbok Two Nine Five, do you have an Echo Tango Alfa Estimated time of arrival The estimated time of arrival or ETA is a measure of when a ship, vehicle, aircraft, cargo, emergency service or computer file is expected to arrive at a certain place... Plaisance please? |
|
| 23:52:30 | ATC | Springbok Two Nine Five, Plaisance. | |
| 23:52:32 | 295 | Ja, Plaisance? | |
| 23:52:33 | ATC | Do you have an Echo Tango Alfa Plaisance please? | |
| 23:52:36 | 295 | Ja, eh, zero zero, eh eh eh three zero. | |
| 23:52:40 | ATC | Roger, zero zero three zero, thank you. | |
| 23:52:50 | 295 | Hey Joe, shut down the oxygen left. | Inadvertent transmission from the aircraft |
| 23:52:52 | ATC | Sorry, say again please? | |
| 00:01:34 | 295 | Eh, Plaisance, Springbok 295, we've opened the door(s) to see if we (can?)...we should be OK | |
| 00:01:36 | 295 | Look there (?) | Exclamation by someone else, and is said over the last part of the previous sentence |
| 00:01:45 | 295 | Donner se deur t... | Close the bloody door |
| 00:01:57 | 295 | Joe, switch up quickly, then close the hole on your side. | |
| 00:02:10 | 295 | Pressure(?) twelve thousand | |
| 00:02:14 | 295 | ...Genoeg is...Anders kan ons vlug verongeluk | Otherwise...our flight could come to grief |
| 00:02:25 | 295 | Carrier wave only | |
| 00:02:38 | 295 | Eh Plaisance, Springbok Two Nine Five, do (did) you copy? | |
| 00:02:41 | ATC | Eh negative, Two Nine Five, say again please, say again. | |
| 00:02:43 | 295 | We're now sixty five miles. | |
| 00:02:45 | ATC | Confirm sixty five miles. | Incorrectly understood by air traffic control to mean that the aircraft was 65 miles from the airport; in fact it was 65 miles from waypoint Waypoint A waypoint is a reference point in physical space used for purposes of navigation.-Concept:Waypoints are sets of coordinates that identify a point in physical space. Coordinates used can vary depending on the application. For terrestrial navigation these coordinates can include longitude and... Xagal, and 145 miles from the airport. |
| 00:02:47 | 295 | Ja, affirmative Charlie Charlie. | |
| 00:02:50 | ATC | Eh, Roger, Springbok eh Two Nine Five, eh re you're recleared flight level five zero. Recleared flight level five zero. | |
| 00:02:58 | 295 | Roger, five zero. | |
| 00:03:00 | ATC | And, Springbok Two Nine Five copy actual weather Plaisance Copy actual weather Plaisance. The wind one one zero degrees zero five knots. The visibility above one zero kilometres. And we have a precipitation in sight to the north. Clouds, five okta Okta In meteorology, an okta is a unit of measurement used to describe cloud cover. Sky conditions are estimated in terms of how many eighths of the sky are obscured by cloud, ranging from completely clear, 0 oktas, through to completely overcast, 8 oktas... s one six zero zero, one okta five thousand feet. Temperature is twenty two, two two. And the QNH QNH QNH is one of the many Q codes. It is defined as, "barometric pressure adjusted to sea level." It is a pressure setting used by pilots, air traffic control , and low frequency weather beacons to refer to the barometric setting which, when set on an aircraft's altimeter, will cause the altimeter to... one zero one eight hectopascals, one zero one eight over. |
|
| 00:03:28 | 295 | Roger, one zero one eight. | |
| 00:03:31 | ATC | Affirmative, eh and both runways available if you wish. | |
| 00:03:43 | ATC | And two nine five, I request pilot's intention. | |
| 00:03:46 | 295 | Eh, we'd like to track in eh, on eh one three Runway According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth... . |
|
| 00:03:51 | ATC | Confirm runway one four. | |
| 00:03:54 | 295 | Charlie Charlie | |
| 00:03:56 | ATC | Affirmative and you're cleared, eh direct to Foxtrot Foxtrot. You report approaching five zero | Clearance granted to the Flic-en-Flac non-directional navigation beacon. |
| 00:04:02 | 295 | Kay. | Last transmission from the aircraft |
| 00:08:00 | ATC | Two Nine Five, Plaisance. | |
| 00:08:11 | ATC | Springbok Two Nine Five, Plaisance. | |
| 00:08:35 | ATC | Springbok Two Nine Five Plaisance (No answer) | |
Accident scene
When the Helderberg last informed Mauritian air traffic controlAir traffic control
Air traffic control is a service provided by ground-based controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and in the air. The primary purpose of ATC systems worldwide is to separate aircraft to prevent collisions, to organize and expedite the flow of traffic, and to provide information and other...
of its position, its report was incorrectly understood to be relative to the airport rather than its next waypoint, which caused the subsequent search to be concentrated too close to Mauritius. The United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
sent P-3 Orion
P-3 Orion
The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engine turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. Lockheed based it on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner. The aircraft is easily recognizable by its distinctive tail stinger or...
aircraft from Diego Garcia
Diego Garcia
Diego Garcia is a tropical, footprint-shaped coral atoll located south of the equator in the central Indian Ocean at 7 degrees, 26 minutes south latitude. It is part of the British Indian Ocean Territory [BIOT] and is positioned at 72°23' east longitude....
, which were used to conduct immediate search and rescue
Search and rescue
Search and rescue is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger.The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, mostly based upon terrain considerations...
operations in conjunction with the French Navy
French Navy
The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...
. By the time the first surface debris was located 12 hours after impact, it had drifted considerably from the impact location. Oil slicks and eight bodies showing signs of extreme trauma appeared in the water. All 140 passengers and 19 crew on the manifest were killed.
The South African Navy
South African Navy
The South African Navy is the navy of the Republic of South Africa.-Formation:The South African Navy can trace its official origins back to the SA Naval Service, which was established on 1 April 1922....
sent the SAS Tafelberg
SAS Tafelberg
SAS Tafelberg was a replenishment ship of the South African Navy. The ship started life as the Danish tanker Annam before undergoing various conversions into her final configuration.-Early history:...
and the SAS Jim Fouche to assist in the recovery of debris and remains. The ocean tug
Tug
Tuğ is a village in the Khojavend Rayon of Azerbaijan....
s John Ross and Wolraad Woltemade also attended the scene, along with the Department of Environment Affairs vessels RS Africana and RS Sonne
Investigation
Rennie Van Zyl, the head South African investigator, examined three wristwatches from the baggage recovered from the surface; two of the watches were still running according to Taiwan time. Van Zyl deduced the approximate time of impact from the stopped watch. The aircraft crashed at 00:07:00, around three minutes after the last communication with air traffic control. Immediately after the crash, the press and public opinion suspected that terrorism brought down the Helderberg. South African Airways was perceived as representing the South African apartheid government as the airline was government-owned, and airline offices around the world had been vandalized. Experts searched for indicators of an explosion on the initial pieces of wreckage discovered, such as surface pitting, impact cavities and spatter cavities caused by white hot fragments from explosive devices that strike and melt metal alloys found in aircraft structures. Experts found none of this evidence. The investigators drew blood samples from bodies and found that the bodies had soot in their tracheae.The South Africans mounted an underwater search, named Operation Resolve, to try to locate the wreckage. The pingers
Underwater locator beacon
An underwater locator beacon or underwater acoustic beacon is a device fitted to aviation flight recorders such as the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder. ULBs are also sometimes required to be attached directly to an aircraft fuselage...
attached to the flight data recorder
Flight data recorder
A flight data recorder is an electronic device employed to record any instructions sent to any electronic systems on an aircraft. It is a device used to record specific aircraft performance parameters...
s were not designed for deep ocean use; nevertheless, a two month long sonar
Sonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...
search for the pingers was carried out before the effort was abandoned on 8 January 1988 when the pingers were known to have stopped transmitting. Steadfast Oceaneering, a specialist deep ocean recovery company in the USA, was contracted at great expense to find the site and recover the cockpit voice recorder
Cockpit voice recorder
A cockpit voice recorder , often referred to as a "black box", is a flight recorder used to record the audio environment in the flight deck of an aircraft for the purpose of investigation of accidents and incidents...
and flight data recorder
Flight data recorder
A flight data recorder is an electronic device employed to record any instructions sent to any electronic systems on an aircraft. It is a device used to record specific aircraft performance parameters...
. The search area is described as being comparable in size to that of the RMS Titanic, with the water at 5000 metres (16,404.2 ft) being considerably deeper than any previously successful salvage operation. However against all odds, the wreckage was found within two days of the sonar search of the area commencing.
Three debris fields were found: 19°10′30"S 59°38′0"E, 19°9′53"S 59°38′32"E and 19°9′15"S 59°37′25"E. These locations are 1.5, 2.3 and 2.5 km apart, which suggested that the fuselage broke up before impact. On 6 January 1989, the cockpit voice recorder was salvaged successfully from a record depth of 4900 metres (16,076.1 ft) by the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Gemini, but the flight data recorder was never found.
Van Zyl took the voice recorder to the National Transportation Safety Board
National Transportation Safety Board
The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incidents, certain types of highway crashes, ship and marine...
in Washington, DC, to show his goodwill and to ensure neutral observers. Van Zyl believes that if he kept the CVR in South Africa he could have been accused of covering up the truth. At the NTSB, Van Zyl felt frustration that the degraded CVR, which had been in the deep ocean for fourteen months, did not initially yield any useful information. Around 28 minutes into the recording the CVR indicated that the fire alarm sounded. Fourteen seconds after the fire alarm, the circuit breakers began to pop. Investigators believe that around 80 circuit breakers failed. The CVR cable failed 81 seconds after the alarm. The recording revealed the extent of the fire.
Van Zyl discovered that the front-right pallet was the "seat" of the fire. The manifest said that pallet mostly comprised computers in polystyrene
Polystyrene
Polystyrene ) also known as Thermocole, abbreviated following ISO Standard PS, is an aromatic polymer made from the monomer styrene, a liquid hydrocarbon that is manufactured from petroleum by the chemical industry...
packaging. The investigators said that the localized fire likely came in contact with the packaging and produced gases that accumulated near the ceiling. They also said that gases ignited into a flash fire that affected the entire cargo hold. The cargo fire of Flight 295 did not burn lower than one meter above the cargo floor. The walls and ceiling of the cargo hold received severe fire damage. Van Zyl ended his investigation without discovering why the fire started.
Margo commission
An official commission of inquiry was chaired by Judge Cecil MargoCecil Margo
Judge Cecil Stanley Margo was a member of the South African judiciary. He was the fifth child of Saul Lewis Margo and Amelia Hilson, South African immigrants of eastern European Jewish descent.-Early life and studies:He received his law degree at the University of the Witwatersrand and was called...
, with cooperation from the aircraft manufacturer, Boeing, and the United States National Transportation Safety Board
National Transportation Safety Board
The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incidents, certain types of highway crashes, ship and marine...
.
The official report determined that while the Helderberg was over the Indian Ocean, a fire had occurred in the main deck cargo hold, originating in the front right-hand cargo pallet. Aircraft parts recovered from the ocean floor showed fire damage in temperatures over 300 °C (572 °F); tests showed that temperatures of 600 °C (1,112 °F) would have been required to melt a carbon-fibre
Carbon fiber-reinforced polymer
Carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer or carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic , is a very strong and light fiber-reinforced polymer which contains carbon fibers. The polymer is most often epoxy, but other polymers, such as polyester, vinyl ester or nylon, are sometimes used...
tennis racket recovered from the crash site, leading Boeing specialist Fred Bereswill to speculate that an oxidant such as ammonium perchlorate
Ammonium perchlorate
Ammonium perchlorate is an inorganic compound with the formula NH4ClO4. It is the salt of perchloric acid and ammonia. It is a powerful oxidizer, which is why its main use is in solid propellants...
was present. The reason for the loss was not specified, but two possibilities were detailed in the official report: Firstly, that the crew became incapacitated due to smoke penetration into the cockpit. Secondly, that the fire weakened the structure and the tail separated leading to impact with the ocean. The commission concluded that it was impossible to allocate blame to anyone for the fire.
The manufacturer is quoted in the report as having "contested" any scenario that involved a break-up of the aircraft and thus the commission did no more than mention the two possible scenarios in its final report as incidental to the primary cause of the accident.
The commission determined that the primary cause of the aircraft's loss was that fire detection and suppression facilities in class B cargo bays (the type used aboard the 747-200 Combi) were inadequate. The accident alerted aviation authorities worldwide to the fact that the regulations regarding class B bays had lagged far behind the growth in capacity of such cargo bays. The exact source of ignition was never determined, but the report concluded that sufficient evidence was found to confirm that the fire had burned for some time and that it might have caused structural damage.
Combi design
The crash was the first fire incident on the 747 Combi and one of few fires on widebody aircraft. Fred Bereswill, the investigator from Boeing, characterized the Flight 295 fire as significant for this reason. Barry Strauch of the NTSBNational Transportation Safety Board
The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incidents, certain types of highway crashes, ship and marine...
visited Boeing's headquarters to inquire about the Combi's design. Boeing's fire test in the Combi models did not accurately match the conditions of the Helderberg's cargo hold; in accordance with federal U.S. rules, the Boeing test involved setting a bale of tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
leaves ablaze. The fire stayed within the cargo hold. The air in the passenger cabin was designed to have a marginally higher pressure than cargo area hold, so if a crew member opened the door to the cargo hold, the air from the passenger cabin would flow into the cargo hold, stopping any smoke or gases from exiting through the door.
Investigators devised a new test involving a cargo hold with conditions similar to the conditions of Flight 295; the plastic covers and extra pallets provided fuel for the fire, which would spread quickly before generating enough smoke to activate smoke alarms. The hotter flame achieved in the new test heated the air in the cargo hold. This heated air was more pressured than normal, and overcame the pressure differential between the cargo hold and the passenger cabin. When the door between the passenger and cargo holds was open, smoke and gases therefore flowed into the passenger cabin.
The test as well as evidence from the accident site proved to the investigators that the design of the Boeing 747 Combi did not provide enough fire protection to the passengers. The FAA confirmed this finding in 1993 with its own series of tests.
After the accident South African Airways discontinued use of the Combi and the Federal Aviation Administration
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...
introduced new regulations in 1993 specifying that manual fire fighting must not be the primary means of fire suppression in the cargo compartment of the main deck. Complying with these new standards required weight increases, which made the 747 Combi economically unviable on some routes. Nevertheless the 747 Combi remained in the 747 product line up until 2002, when the last 747-400 Combi was delivered to KLM.
Conspiracy theories
In January 1992, the journal of the Royal Aeronautical SocietyRoyal Aeronautical Society
The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a multidisciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community.-Function:...
reported that the inquiry into the in-flight fire that destroyed SAA Flight 295 might be reopened because the airline had allegedly confirmed that its passenger jets had carried cargo for Armscor
Armscor (South Africa)
Armscor , the Armaments Corporation of South Africa is a South African government-supported weapon-producing conglomerate that was officially established in 1968, primarily as a response to the international sanctions by the United Nations against South Africa that began in 1963 and...
, a South African arms agency. The RAeS journal, Aerospace, asserted: "It is known that the crew and passengers were overcome by a main deck cargo fire, and the ignition of missile rocket fuel is one cause now under suspicion." A complaint against the newspaper that first published the allegations, Weekend Star, was lodged by Armscor.
However the inquiry was not reopened, and this might have spawned a number of conspiracy theories
Conspiracy theory
A conspiracy theory explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or, more broadly, the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public.-Usage:The term "conspiracy...
concerning the nature of the cargo that caused the fire, which in turn fueled public doubts about the outcome of the initial inquiry. Examples of such theories include:
- The SADFSouth African Defence ForceThe South African Defence Force was the South African armed forces from 1957 until 1994. The former Union Defence Force was renamed to the South African Defence Force in the Defence Act of 1957...
was smuggling the hoax substance red mercuryRed mercuryRed mercury is a 19th-century term for protiodide or iodide of mercury. It was commonly recommended for use as an antisyphilitic as late as 1913, most notably during the early years of the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments. Taken orally, it caused hematemesis...
on the flight for its atomic bombSouth Africa and weapons of mass destructionFrom the 1960s to the 1980s, South Africa pursued research into weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. Six nuclear weapons were assembled...
project. - Reports from the Project CoastProject CoastProject Coast was a top-secret chemical and biological weapons program instituted by the South African government during the apartheid era. Project Coast was the successor to a limited post-war CBW program which mainly produced the lethal agents CX powder and mustard gas; as well as non-lethal...
investigation suggested there was a weighbill showing that 300 grams of highly volatile activated carbonActivated carbonActivated carbon, also called activated charcoal, activated coal or carbo activatus, is a form of carbon that has been processed to make it extremely porous and thus to have a very large surface area available for adsorption or chemical reactions.The word activated in the name is sometimes replaced...
had been placed on board the Helderberg, leading to speculation that this substance had caused the fire.
The television show Carte Blanche
Carte Blanche (TV series)
Carte Blanche, produced by Combined Artists, is the flagship magazine and actuality programme on M-Net, a pay-TV channel broadcasting in Southern Africa. Carte Blanche was launched in 1989 and broadcasts during prime time viewing on Sunday evenings....
dedicated an investigation into a number of these allegations.
A South African government chemist examined a microscopic particle on the nylon netting next to the front-right pallet on Flight 295. The chemist found that the airflow patterns on the iron suggested that it traveled at a high velocity while in a molten state; therefore the fire on Flight 295 may have not been a flash fire triggered by packaging. Fred Bereswill, the investigator from Boeing, said that this would suggest that the source of the fire would have had properties like a sparkler
Sparkler
A sparkler is a type of hand-held firework that burns slowly while emitting colored flames, sparks, and other effects.In the United Kingdom, a sparkler is often used by children at bonfire and fireworks displays on Guy Fawkes Night, the fifth of November, and in the United States on Independence...
, with the source including its own oxidizing agent
Oxidizing agent
An oxidizing agent can be defined as a substance that removes electrons from another reactant in a redox chemical reaction...
. A British fire and explosion analyst examined the exterior skin of the aircraft which had been located above the pallet; the analyst found that the skin became as hot as 300 degrees Celsius
Celsius
Celsius is a scale and unit of measurement for temperature. It is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius , who developed a similar temperature scale two years before his death...
. Bereswill said that it would be difficult for a fire to burn through the skin of an aircraft in-flight because of the cool airflow outside of the aircraft.
David Klatzow's theory
Dr David Klatzow was one of the forensic scientists who, on his own admission, was retained to work on the case by Boeing's counsel around the time of the official enquiry. He subsequently criticized the Margo commission for spending an inordinate amount of time looking into "relatively irrelevant issues" and that the commission ignored the most important question: what was the source of the fire and who had been responsible for loading it onto the aircraft. Klatzow believes that there are certain irregularities in parts of the commission transcript that indicate that something on the CVR transcript had to be concealed.Klatzow put forward a theory that the fire likely involved substances that would not normally be carried on a passenger aircraft and that the fire was not likely a wood, cardboard, or plastic fire. South Africa was under an arms embargo
United Nations Security Council Resolution 418
United Nations Security Council Resolution 418, adopted unanimously on 4 November 1977, imposed a mandatory arms embargo against apartheid South Africa. This resolution differed from the earlier Resolution 282, which was only voluntary...
at the time; the South African government therefore had to buy arms clandestinely. His theory postulates that the South African government placed a rocket system in the cargo hold, and that vibration caused unstable ammonium perchlorate
Ammonium perchlorate
Ammonium perchlorate is an inorganic compound with the formula NH4ClO4. It is the salt of perchloric acid and ammonia. It is a powerful oxidizer, which is why its main use is in solid propellants...
to ignite.
Klatzow contends that conversation of the crew suggests that the fire started above the South China Sea
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...
, shortly after takeoff; he believes that this indicates that the voice recorder was not working for a long period of the flight or that the crew turned it off. If this is the case, he says it is then likely that an unknown number of the passengers would have already died from smoke inhalation from the first fire. Klatzow believes that theory is consistent with reports that find most of the passengers were in the first class area of the plane at the front as smoke from the back of the plane forced them to move forward. The captain did not land the aircraft directly after the fire, Klatzow argues, because if he had he would have been arrested for endangering the lives of his passengers and it would have caused a major problem for South Africa, costing the country and SAA R400 million. Klatzow argues that the captain, who was also a reservist in the South African Air Force, would therefore have been ordered to carry on to South Africa in hopes of making it there before the aircraft's structural integrity gave in. These points have been refuted by others.
On 20 July 2011, retired SAA
South African Airways
South African Airways is the national flag carrier and largest airline of South Africa, with headquarters in Airways Park on the grounds of OR Tambo International Airport in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni, Gauteng. The airline flies to 36 destinations worldwide from its hub at OR Tambo International...
captain Clair Fichardt announced that he had made a statement in connection with the missing Jan Smuts air traffic control tapes, after he was persuaded to do so by Klatzow. Fichardt claimed that captain James Deale admitted to handing the tapes to captain Mickey Mitchell, who was chief pilot at the Johannesburg control centre on the night of the crash. Deale would further have stated that Gert van der Veer, head of SAA, and lawyer Ardie Malherbe were present during the transfer of the tapes. Earlier, during the TRC hearings, Klatzow had cross-examined Van der Veer, Mitchell and Vernon Nadel, the Operations Officer who was on duty.
Post-apartheid investigation
In 1996, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), established by the post-apartheid South African GovernmentGovernment of South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a constitutional democracy with a three-tier system of government and an independent judiciary, operating in a nearly unique system that combines aspects of parliamentary and presidential systems. Legislative authority is held by the Parliament of South Africa...
, investigated apartheid era atrocities. In particular, the Helderberg accident was investigated to determine if there was any truth behind the conspiracy theories that the Margo Commission had covered up or missed any evidence that might implicate the previous government . David Klatzow was invited by the TRC to explain his theories and cross-examine witnesses. Unlike most other hearings of the TRC, the hearing into SA 295 was conducted in camera
In camera
In camera is a legal term meaning "in private". It is also sometimes termed in chambers or in curia.In camera describes court cases that the public and press are not admitted to...
, and without any representation from the Civil Aviation Authority
South African Civil Aviation Authority
The South African Civil Aviation Authority is the South African national aviation authority, overseeing civil aviation and governing investigations of aviation accidents and incidents. It is headquartered in the Midrand community of Johannesburg.-External links:* *...
(CAA); Klatzow considered the CAA untrustworthy because it had participated in the official enquiry, which he considered flawed. A number of key aspects of Klatgzow's theory hinged on his criticism of the actions of Judge Margo during the official enquiry, yet Judge Margo was not summoned to answer any of the allegations made against him.
The commission concluded that nothing listed in the cargo manifest could have caused the fire. Following public pressure, the TRC records were released into the public domain in May 2000. Upon receiving the documents, Transport Minister Dullah Omar
Dullah Omar
Abdullah Mohamed Omar , better known as Dullah Omar, was a South African anti-Apartheid activist, lawyer, and a minister in the South African cabinet from 1994 till his death.-Early life and education:...
stated that the inquiry would be reopened if any fresh evidence was discovered. The police were tasked to investigate if there was any new evidence, and to make a recommendation to the minister. In October 2002, the minister announced that no new evidence had been found to justify re-opening the enquiry.
Passengers
Following is the list of passengers and crew nationalities on board the flight.| Nationality | Passengers | Crew | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Hong Kong Hong Kong Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour... |
2 | 0 | 2 |
| 47 | 0 | 47 | |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | |
 South AfricaSouth Africa The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans... |
52 | 19 | 71 |
| (Taiwan) | 30 | 0 | 30 |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Total | 140 | 19 | 159 |
Taiwanese authorities stated that 58 passengers began flying in Taipei, including 30 Taiwanese citizens, 19 South Africans, 3 Japanese, two Mauritians, one Dane, one Dutch, one British, and one West German. The other passengers transferred from other flights arriving in Taipei, and as such their nationalities were not known to Taiwanese authorities.
At least two passengers died of smoke inhalation.
Notable passengers
- Kazuharu SonodaKazuharu Sonoda, also known as and , was a Japanese professional wrestler.Sonoda died on the crash of South African Airways Flight 295 with his wife, , as they were on their honeymoon.-References:...
, A professional wrestler also known as Haru Sonoda (Magic Dragon), and his bride, , boarded Flight 295.
Dramatization
MaydayMayday (TV series)
Mayday, also known as Air Crash Investigation in the United Kingdom, Australia and Asia and Air Emergency and Air Disasters in the United States, is a Canadian documentary television programme produced by Cineflix investigating air crashes, near-crashes and other disasters...
(also known as Air Emergency and Air Crash Investigation) aired an episode titled "Fanning the Flames" (also titled "Cargo Conspiracy" and "Mystery Fire" in some countries) which documents the crash.
See also
- UPS Airlines Flight 6UPS Airlines Flight 6UPS Airlines Flight 6 was a cargo flight operated by UPS Airlines. On 3 September 2010, a Boeing 747-400 flying the route between Dubai International Airport and Cologne Bonn Airport crashed close to Dubai airport, killing the two crew members. The aircraft had departed Dubai International...
- China Airlines Flight 120China Airlines Flight 120China Airlines Flight 120 was a regularly scheduled flight from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan County, Taiwan to Naha Airport in Okinawa, Japan. On August 20, 2007, the Boeing 737-800 aircraft operating the flight caught fire and exploded after landing and taxiing to the gate area...
- Saudia Flight 163Saudia Flight 163Saudia Flight 163 was a scheduled passenger flight of Saudia that caught fire after takeoff from Riyadh International Airport on a flight to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on 19 August 1980...
- Swissair Flight 111Swissair Flight 111Swissair Flight 111 was a Swissair McDonnell Douglas MD-11 on a scheduled airline flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, United States to Cointrin International Airport in Geneva, Switzerland...
- Air safetyAir safetyAir safety is a term encompassing the theory, investigation and categorization of flight failures, and the prevention of such failures through regulation, education and training. It can also be applied in the context of campaigns that inform the public as to the safety of air travel.-United...
- List of accidents and incidents on commercial airliners
- List of unrecovered flight recorders
External links
- Partially Real ATC Recording An MP3 format of part of the actual ATC recording. The real recording starts at 21 minutes. It is slightly abridged, with some empty sound cut short.
- `We are going to die,' said crew member
- Vol South African Airways 295 : Maldonne à Pretoria (French)