South African Airways Flight 295
1987 plane crash in the Indian Ocean / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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South African Airways Flight 295 (SA295/SAA295) was a scheduled international passenger flight from Chiang Kai-shek International Airport, Taipei, Taiwan, to Jan Smuts International Airport, Johannesburg, South Africa, with a stopover in Plaisance Airport, Plaine Magnien, Mauritius. On 28 November 1987, the aircraft serving the flight, a Boeing 747-200 Combi named Helderberg, experienced a catastrophic in-flight fire in the cargo area, broke up in mid-air, and crashed into the Indian Ocean east of Mauritius, killing all 159 people on board.[3][4] An extensive salvage operation was mounted to try to recover the aircraft's flight recorders, one of which was recovered from a depth of 4,900 metres (16,100 ft).
Accident | |
---|---|
Date | 28 November 1987 (1987-11-28) |
Summary | In-flight fire in cargo hold leading to loss of control and in-flight breakup[1] |
Site | Indian Ocean 19°10′30″S 59°38′0″E |
Aircraft | |
Aircraft type | Boeing 747-244BM Combi |
Aircraft name | Helderberg |
Operator | South African Airways |
IATA flight No. | SA295 |
ICAO flight No. | SAA295 |
Call sign | SPRINGBOK 295 |
Registration | ZS-SAS |
Flight origin | Chiang Kai-shek International Airport, Taipei, Taiwan |
Stopover | Plaisance Airport, Plaine Magnien, Mauritius |
Destination | Jan Smuts International Airport, Johannesburg, South Africa |
Occupants | 159 |
Passengers | 140 |
Crew | 19 |
Fatalities | 159[2] |
Survivors | 0 |
The official inquiry, headed by Judge Cecil Margo, was unable to determine the cause of the fire. This lack of a conclusion led to conspiracy theories, debates and speculation about the nature of Flight 295's cargo, as well as a subsequent post-apartheid investigation and calls from relatives of those on the flight to re-open the investigation in the years following the accident.[5]