Cashel South African Air Force Alouette crash

Cashel South African Air Force Alouette crash
An Aerospatiale SA-316 Alouette III of the SAAF, 1970s.
Accident
Date23 December 1975
SummaryCrashed after flying into a hawser cable
SiteCashel, Rhodesia
Aircraft
Aircraft typeAérospatiale Alouette III helicopter
OperatorSouth African Air Force
Flight originUmtali
DestinationMelsetter
Occupants6
Crew6
Fatalities5
Injuries1
Survivors1

On 23 December 1975, an Aérospatiale Alouette III helicopter of the South African Air Force carrying a two-man crew and four Rhodesian Army officers crashed near Cashel in Rhodesia after it collided with a hawser cable mid-flight. The accident dealt a severe blow to the Rhodesian Security Forces, then fighting bitterly against ZANLA and ZIPRA insurgents in the Rhodesian Bush War, for the officers involved were some of its best and would prove difficult to replace.