Incident Overview
Date: Friday 11 May 1945
Aircraft Type: Douglas C-47A (DC-3)
Owner/operator: South African Air Force – SAAF
Registration Number: 6807
Location: off Kisumu –
ÿ Kenya
Phase of Flight: Initial climb
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 3
Component Affected: C-47A transport planeC-47A transport plane
Category: Accident
A C-47A transport plane crashed into Lake Victoria immediately after takeoff, resulting in two subsequent accidents. Initial investigations point to katabatic winds affecting Kisumu in the early morning as a potential contributing factor.A C-47A transport plane crashed into Lake Victoria immediately after takeoff, resulting in two subsequent accidents. Initial investigations point to katabatic winds affecting Kisumu in the early morning as a potential contributing factor.
Description
The C-47A transport plane was being ferried from Blackbushe, U.K. to Pretoria’s Waterkloof Air Base in South Africa with intermediate stops at Istres, France; Rome, Italy; Athens, Greece; Cairo, Egypt; Wadi Haifa, Khartoum, and Juba, Sudan; Kisumu and Ndola. The airplane crashed into Lake Victoria immediately after takeoff. Two months later, on July 11, 1945 another SAAF C-47 crashed under similar circumstances. In December 1942 a SAAF Lockheed Lodestar had also crashed into Lake Victoria on takeoff from Kisumu. The cause of the accidents is currently thought to be the katabatic wind condition which often affects Kisumu in the early morning.
Primary Cause
Katabatic wind conditions affecting Kisumu in the early morning.Katabatic wind conditions affecting Kisumu in the early morning.Share on:
