 Sections from the wreckage are now part of the Samora Machel Monument | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 19 October 1986 |
| Summary | Controlled flight into terrain due to lack of crew resource management and pilot error, possible intervention by South African troops (disputed) |
| Site |
25°54′41″S 31°57′26″E / 25.91139°S 31.95722°E |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Tupolev Tu-134A-3 |
| Operator | Mozambique Airlines |
| Registration | C9-CAA |
| Flight origin | Maputo International Airport, Mozambique |
| 1st stopover | Lusaka International Airport, Zambia |
| Last stopover | Mbala Airport, Zambia |
| Destination | Maputo International Airport, Mozambique |
| Passengers | 35 |
| Crew | 9 |
| Fatalities | 34 |
| Injuries | 10 |
| Survivors | 10 |
On 19 October 1986, a Tupolev Tu-134 jetliner with a Soviet crew carrying President Samora Machel and 43 others from Mbala, Zambia to the Mozambican capital Maputo crashed at Mbuzini, South Africa. Nine passengers and one crew member survived the crash, but President Machel and 33 others died, including several ministers and senior officials of the Mozambican government.[1]
A board of enquiry blamed the captain for failing to react to the Ground Proximity Warning System. Another theory was that the crew had set the aircraft's VOR receivers to the wrong frequency, causing them to receive signals from a different airport, or even that a false beacon had been used to lure the crew off course. While there was widespread suspicion in other nations that South Africa, which was hostile towards Machel's government at the time, was involved in the incident, no conclusive evidence was ever presented to support that allegation.
- ^ Margo 1998, pp. 216–231.