Incident Overview

Date: Monday 15 September 1952
Aircraft Type: Douglas C-47A-30-DL (DC-3)
Owner/operator: South African Airways – SAA
Registration Number: ZS-AVI
Location: Carolina Aerodrome – ÿ South Africa
Phase of Flight: Landing
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 19
Component Affected: Aircraft navigation system (specifically course setting and ground speed estimation).Aircraft navigation system (specifically course setting and ground speed estimation).
Category: Accident
A flight to Palmietfontein was lost due to navigational errors by the captain, resulting in irreparable damage to the aircraft. The aircraft deviated from its planned course, leading to incorrect visual identification of towns, and interference with radio communication. An unsuccessful attempt to land on an unlit aerodrome contributed to the accident. A rock outcrop struck the wheels of the aircraft during the low approach.A flight to Palmietfontein was lost due to navigational errors by the captain, resulting in irreparable damage to the aircraft. The aircraft deviated from its planned course, leading to incorrect visual identification of towns, and interference with radio communication. An unsuccessful attempt to land on an unlit aerodrome contributed to the accident. A rock outcrop struck the wheels of the aircraft during the low approach.

Description

The crew became lost while on a flight to Palmietfontein. A landing was carried out at an unlighted airport during which the aircraft sustained irreparable damage. PROBABLE CAUSE: “The primary cause of the accident was faulty navigation on the part of the captain of the aeroplane inasmuch as he set off on an incorrect course and thereafter his visual identification of towns en route was incorrect and based purely on assumptions. Had he checked his assumed ground speed between what he assumed to be Mahalapye and Warrbaths he would have found this to be approximately 318 mph which check would have altered him. The secondary cause was the failure of those responsible to alert Pietersburgh Aeradio Station and Beacon and the excessive degree of radio interference on the Rand on the evening of 15 September due to electrical storms. The tertiary cause was an attempted landing on an unidentified and unlighted aerodrome, of which the altitude was not known. Thereafter in a low approach the wheels of the aeroplane struck a rock outcrop approx. 1,25 miles from the aerodrome.”

Primary Cause

Faulty navigation on the part of the captain, specifically incorrect course setting and incorrect assumptions about ground speed.Faulty navigation on the part of the captain, specifically incorrect course setting and incorrect assumptions about ground speed.

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