Incident Overview

Date: Wednesday 18 May 1955
Aircraft Type: Douglas C-47B-40-DK (DC-3)
Owner/operator: East African Airways Corp. – EAAC
Registration Number: VP-KKH
Location: Mount Kilimanjaro – ÿ Tanzania
Phase of Flight: En route
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 20 / Occupants: 20
Component Affected: AircraftAircraft
Investigating Agency: CoICoI
Category: Accident
An East African Flight EC104 experienced a sudden and unexplained loss of communication and control, resulting in a crash landing on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro. The pilot’s decision to follow a direct route to Nairobi, despite marginal weather conditions and a failure to consult with meteorological authorities, contributed to the incident.An East African Flight EC104 experienced a sudden and unexplained loss of communication and control, resulting in a crash landing on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro. The pilot’s decision to follow a direct route to Nairobi, despite marginal weather conditions and a failure to consult with meteorological authorities, contributed to the incident.

Description

East African Flight EC104 departed Dar es Salaam (DAR) at 10:39 for the last leg of a flight to Nairobi (WIL). Last position report was at 11:56 when the pilot reported over Lake Jipe in visual flight on top of the clouds at FL105. Nothing more was heard from the flight. The wreckage was found on May 22, 1955 on the south-east slope of Mawenzi (one of the two peaks of Mount Kilimanjaro) at an elevation of 15200 feet. PROBABLE CAUSE: “The pilot’s decision to proceed on the direct track to Nairobi, and this consideration is not affected even if he intended to divert in the vicinity of Kilimanjaro. The meteorological conditions were marginal and his first mistake occurred in not discussing the weather with the meteorological forecaster. Had he done so he might well have decided to proceed via Tanga, although in making this decision he might have been influenced by the fact that there were no specific instructions regarding an alternate route. It must be remembered, however, that he was fairly new in the Corporation and he might have thought it impolite to depart from normal practice.”

Primary Cause

Pilot?s decision to proceed on a direct route to Nairobi, compounded by a lack of weather consultation.Pilot?s decision to proceed on a direct route to Nairobi, compounded by a lack of weather consultation.

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