Wadi Halfa

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Salisbury – Léopoldville – Entebbe – Khartoum – Wadi Halfa – Benghazi – Rome – London

MSN:

102

YOM:

1956

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Captain / Total flying hours:

9158

Captain / Total hours on type:

920.00

Copilot / Total flying hours:

3204

Copilot / Total hours on type:

961

Circumstances:

The flight is a scheduled service from Salisbury, Rhodesia, to London and is known as the Zambezi service. This service is operated by three crews, one crew operating from Salisbury to Entebbe, the second from Entebbe to Benina and the third from Benina to London. On 8 August this service departed from Salisbury at 0713LT and a stop was made at Ndola for traffic purposes. At Entebbe, a relief crew took over the aircraft for the sector to Benina. Stops were made at Khartoum and Wadi Halfa for refuelling and the aircraft left Wadi Halfa at 2120LT for Benina. The flight was completely uneventful and slightly ahead of schedule up to the time of the accident. At 0112 hours the aircraft was cleared into Benina control zone. At the request of the pilot, at 0114 hours, permission was given by Benina Approach Control to make a direct approach on to runway 330° Right, using the locator and the responder beacons. Between 20 and 30 seconds after this clearance had been acknowledged by the pilot the aircraft struck high ground 5,5 miles to the southeast of the aerodrome. Fire broke out on impact. Of the 7 crew and 47 passengers aboard the aircraft, 4 crew and 32 passengers were killed.

Probable cause:

The cause of the accident was that when making an approach to runway 330° Right and whilst flying in cloud, the pilot descended below the correct height thus permitting the aircraft to strike high ground. The reason why the pilot descended so low, 5,5 miles from the aerodrome, cannot be established, but the most probable cause is that he misinterpreted the reading of his altimeter. The possibility that his efficiency had been reduced by fatigue and a slight indisposition cannot be excluded.

Final Report:

Crash of a Douglas DC-3 near Wadi Halfa: 3 killed

Date & Time: Sep 11, 1952

Type of aircraft:

Douglas DC-3

Operator:

Registration:

VT-CGB

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Positioning

Survivors:

Site:

Mountains

MSN:

9945

YOM:

1943

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

The crew was performing a positioning flight to Khartoum to meet the Sudanese people who chartered the plane to complete a pilgrim flight from Aden to Djeddah. As the airplane failed to arrive in Khartoum, SAR operations were conducted and the wreckage was found nine days later, on September 20, on the slope of a mountain located about 80 km southeast of Wadi Halfa. The aircraft was destroyed and all three crew members have been killed.

Probable cause:

According to the Sudanese Authorities, the accident was caused by a faulty navigation on part of the crew due to poor communication between the crew and the ATC and a lack of navigation aids in the area.

Crash of a Douglas DC-2-115B in Kosti: 2 killed

Date & Time: Aug 29, 1952 at 2105 LT

Type of aircraft:

Douglas DC-2

Operator:

Phoenix Airlines

Registration:

ZS-DFW

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Cargo

Survivors:

Site:

White Nile (النيل الأبيض)

Schedule:

Johannesburg – Bulawayo – Lusaka – Tabora – Juba – Wadi Halfa – Khartoum – Cairo – Southend

MSN:

1322

YOM:

1934

Location:

Kosti

Country:

Sudan

Region:

Africa

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

The aircraft took off on a cargo flight from Rand Airport in Jo'burg to Southend, England, with a crew of four, two passengers and a load of Karakul pelts. The passengers left the aircraft at Bulawayo, deciding not to complete their journey. The aircraft started in company with another of the same operator which also crashed en route. On attempting a diversion landing at Kosti at night without suitable ground aids, the aircraft ran off the runway and collided with a steel support for a windsock and afterwards with trees causing major damage. Two crew were killed and two were injured. The aircraft was destroyed.

Probable cause:

The primary cause of the accident was that extremely bad weather forced the Captain of the airplane to divert from his original destination. No proper preparation had been made for a possible landing at an alternate airfield prior to commencement of flight. The secondary cause was due to the Captain's attempt to execute a landing at Kosti aerodrome which was not equipped with night landing facilities. The Captain landed on the runway but was unable to align himself with the centre line and in consequence ran off the runway and struck a steel windsock support and thereafter struck various obstructions such as trees which lay in the path.
The following factors were considered as contributory:
- Because of radio interference due to a storm, proper use could not be made of the radio navigational facilities carried on the aircraft,
- The lack of appreciation by the Captain of his final responsibility for the operational control of the aircraft, which includes diversionary action, and his apparent failure to appreciate the purely advisory responsibility of Khartoum as a flight information centre.

Final Report:

Crash of a Douglas C-47-DL near Wadi Halfa

Date & Time: Oct 12, 1948

Type of aircraft:

Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)

Operator:

Registration:

ZS-BWZ

Flight Phase:

Takeoff (climb)

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Desert

Schedule:

Paris – Wadi Halfa – Khartoum – Johannesburg

MSN:

9145

YOM:

1943

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

Shortly after takeoff from Wadi Halfa, a fire erupted in the cockpit. The crew was unable to extinguish the fire so the captain was forced to attempt an emergency landing in a desert area located few km from the airport. The aircraft written off while all 26 occupants escaped uninjured.

Probable cause:

The opinion was formed that the fire started in the left hand side of the pilot's compartment because of an electric short in the extension lamp, producing sufficient heat to ignite propeller deicing fluid, which, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, the Committee was of opinion must have leaked from the tank behind the Commander's seat. On available evidence, the crew made all possible efforts to extinguish the fire, but the effectiveness of their actions was nullified by the restricted area of operations and the inaccessibility of the seat of the fire. In view of the direct evidence of a blue flame at the time of the conflagration, there would appear to have been a high percentage of methyl spirits in the deicing fluid. This is confirmed by tests made of deicing fluid taken from other aircraft serviced by the same maintenance organisation which did not conform with specification An-F-13.

Crash of a Lockheed C-60A-5-LO LodeStar in Wadi Halfa

Date & Time: Jul 27, 1948

Type of aircraft:

Lockheed C-60 LodeStar

Operator:

Air Transport - Belgium

Registration:

OO-GVP

Flight Phase:

Takeoff (climb)

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

MSN:

18-2320

YOM:

1943

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

Just after liftoff, the twin engine aircraft stalled and crashed in flames. All 14 occupants were quickly rescued while the aircraft was destroyed by a post crash fire. The crew was completing a flight from Belgian Congo to Brussels via Sudan.

Crash of a Savoia-Marchetti SM.73 in Wadi Halfa: 8 killed

Date & Time: Aug 2, 1937 at 0530 LT

Type of aircraft:

Savoia-Marchetti SM.73

Operator:

Registration:

I-SUSA

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Vickers FB.27 Vimy Commercial

Schedule:

Rome - Cairo - Wadi Halfa - Asmara - Addis Ababa

MSN:

30014

YOM:

1936

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

On final approach to Wadi Halfa Airport at night, the crew initiated a go around procedure for unknown reasons. The three engine airplane stalled and crashed short of runway. All eight occupants. were killed.
Crew:
Mr. Mondi, pilot,
Mr. Gallatti, copilot,
Mr. Damiani, engineer,
Mr. Carcavallo, radio navigator.
Passengers:
Mr. Blanetti,
Mr. Tavoletti,
Mr. Cohen,
Mrs. Lucienne Pottier.

Sincere thanks to Mr. Frédéric Thomas, son of Mrs. Pottier.

Crash of a Vickers FB.27 Vimy Commercial in Bulawayo

Date & Time: Mar 6, 1920

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

F8615

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Military

Survivors:

Site:

Vickers FB.27 Vimy Commercial

Schedule:

Wadi Halfa – Bulawayo – Cape Town

Location:

Bulawayo

Country:

Zimbabwe

Region:

Africa

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

On approach to Bulawayo, Matabeleland, the crew encountered problems and the aircraft crashed. Both occupants, engaged in a cross country flight to Cape Town, South Africa, were injured and the aircraft named 'Silver Queen II' was destroyed.
Crew:
Lt Col Pierre van Ryneveld,
Lt Christopher Joseph Quintin-Brand.

Crash of a Vickers FB.27 Vimy in Wadi Halfa

Date & Time: Feb 4, 1920

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

G-UABA

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Military

Survivors:

Site: