Central African Airways - CAA | Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives

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 Vickers 610 Viking 1B in Salisbury: 2 killed

Date & Time: Oct 5, 1956

Type of aircraft:

Vickers Viking

Operator:

Registration:

VP-YMO

Flight Phase:

Takeoff (climb)

Flight Type:

Training

Survivors:

Site:

Airport (less than 10 km from airport)

Schedule:

Salisbury – Salisbury

MSN:

227

YOM:

1947

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

The crew was engaged in a local training sortie at Salisbury Airport. Shortly after takeoff, while climbing, the airplane went out of control and crashed 3 km from the airfield. Both pilots were killed. It is believed the accident was caused by an error on part of the copilot.

Crash of a De Havilland DHC-2 Beaver in Lunzu

Date & Time: Apr 21, 1956

Type of aircraft:

De Havilland DHC-2 Beaver

Operator:

Registration:

VP-YIM

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Scheduled Revenue Flight

Survivors:

Yes

Site:

Plain, Valley

Schedule:

Lilongwe – Blantyre

MSN:

YOM:

1951

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

While approaching Blantyre, the pilot encountered low visibility due to foggy conditions and decided to attempt an emergency landing when the airplane hit a tree and crashed in Lunzu, about 6 km northeast of the Chileka Airport. The airplane was destroyed upon impact and all five occupants were injured.

Crash of a Vickers 616 Viking AB in Salisbury

Date & Time: Mar 17, 1955 at 1427 LT

Type of aircraft:

Vickers Viking

Operator:

Registration:

VP-YEX

Flight Phase:

Landing (descent or approach)

Flight Type:

Scheduled Revenue Flight

Survivors:

Yes

Site:

Airport (less than 10 km from airport)

Schedule:

Johannesburg – Salisbury

MSN:

159

YOM:

1946

Flight number:

CAA120

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

The aircraft departed Jan Smuts Airport at 1115LT on a scheduled flight to Belvedere Airport, Salisbury, under VFR conditions, carrying 23 passengers and a crew of 5. At 1427LT, while approaching runway 27 from the east on final approach during a thunderstorm, the undercarriage struck the ground a short distance to the north and east of the threshold of runway 27, causing the starboard tire to burst, the starboard leg of the undercarriage to break and the starboard propeller engine to be severely damaged. The pilot endeavored to undertake overshoot procedure but as the starboard engine and propeller could not deliver power and the aircraft was at a speed below the minimum required for effective control, he was obliged to make a crash landing. No one was injured but the aircraft was extensively damaged.

Probable cause:

The accident was caused not by mechanical defect of the aircraft nor by the conduct of the pilot but by a combination of unusual and unexpected circumstances . Had the sudden downpour of rain not taken place at the critical moment, it is almost certain that no accident would have occurred.

Final Report:

Crash of a Douglas C-47B-15-DK in Salisbury: 1 killed

Date & Time: Feb 23, 1955 at 0920 LT

Type of aircraft:

Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)

Operator:

Registration:

VP-YKO

Flight Phase:

Takeoff (climb)

Flight Type:

Scheduled Revenue Flight

Survivors:

Yes

Site:

Airport (less than 10 km from airport)

Schedule:

Salisbury – Lusaka

MSN:

15109/26554

YOM:

1944

Flight number:

CAA626

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

Just after liftoff from runway 09, while in initial climb, the crew raised the gear when smoke spread into the cockpit. The captain decided to land immediately. The aircraft belly landed and skidded for dozen yards before it overran and came to rest on a railway. Twenty-five occupants evacuated safely while the flight engineer was killed by a propeller blade coming from the left engine that penetrated the cockpit.

Probable cause:

The cause of the accident was the presence of smoke in the flight crew compartment in sufficient quantity to make the captain apprehensive of fire and to cause him to land the aircraft immediately with the undercarriage retracted. The only defect revealed by subsequent investigation of the airframe, engine and accessories, was a fractured rubber hose on the port engine connecting the rocker box of one of the lower cylinders to the collector box. It is the option of the Investigating Officers that oil leaking from this fracture was carried by the airflow on to the exhaust collector ring and generated smoke. Tests carried out later on the same type of aircraft proved conclusively that smoke generated in this region will travel freely to the flight crew compartment via the wheel bay and interior of the centre section leading edge.

Crash of a Vickers 616 Viking 1B in Mkwaya: 13 killed

Date & Time: Mar 29, 1953

Type of aircraft:

Vickers Viking

Operator:

Registration:

VP-YEY

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Scheduled Revenue Flight

Survivors:

Site:

Plain, Valley

Schedule:

Blantyre – Dar es Salaam

MSN:

168

YOM:

1947

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

While cruising, the twin engine aircraft encountered poor weather conditions with turbulences and strong winds, disintegrated in the air and crashed near Mkwaya, killing all 13 occupants.

Probable cause:

It was determined that the type of grease used when fitting press fit bolts to the booms had caused corrosion nodes, thus weakening the lower starboard boom at the outboard bolt hole. The gust of wind caused a fracture of this boom outboard of Station 141, followed by the complete disintegration of the aircraft.