Incident Overview
Date: Friday 22 April 1960
Aircraft Type: Douglas C-54A-DO (DC-4)
Owner/operator: Sobelair
Registration Number: OO-SBL
Location: 8 km SE of Bunia Airport (BUX) –
ÿ Congo (Democratic Republic)
Phase of Flight: Approach
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 35 / Occupants: 35
Component Affected: C-54 passenger planeC-54 passenger plane
Category: Accident
A Douglas C-54 passenger plane crashed near Bunia, D.R. Congo, resulting in the deaths of 28 passengers and seven crew members. The flight, departing from Brussel (BRU) in Belgium at 09:11 on April 21, with intermediate stops in Rome, Cairo, and Bunia, ultimately ended in a catastrophic crash near the Pic de Bogoro, approximately 60 meters below the summit. The accident was attributed to a pilot’s descent, which occurred when the cloud base (ceiling) was below the minimum required by the Administration and Operator.A Douglas C-54 passenger plane crashed near Bunia, D.R. Congo, resulting in the deaths of 28 passengers and seven crew members. The flight, departing from Brussel (BRU) in Belgium at 09:11 on April 21, with intermediate stops in Rome, Cairo, and Bunia, ultimately ended in a catastrophic crash near the Pic de Bogoro, approximately 60 meters below the summit. The accident was attributed to a pilot’s descent, which occurred when the cloud base (ceiling) was below the minimum required by the Administration and Operator.
Description
A Douglas C-54 passenger plane was destroyed in an accident near Bunia, D.R.Congo. All 28 passengers and seven crew members were killed. The Sobelair flight departed Brussel (BRU), Belgium at 09:11, April 21, on a flight to Elizabethville (now named Lubumbashi). Intermediate stops were planned at Rome, Cairo and Bunia. The flight left Cairo, Egypt at 20:49. While descending towards Bunia, the C-54 flew into the Pic de Bogoro, some 60 metres below the summit. PROBABLE CAUSE (translated from original French report): The accident occurred because the pilot, the captain, carried out a descent while the height of cloud base (ceiling) was below the minimum required by the Administration and the Operator.
Source of Information
https://books.google.nl/books?id=dly9axBP4O4C&lpg=PA104&ots=aTlaBzok_K&dq=%22OO-SBL%22&hl=nl&pg=PA105#v=onepage&q=%22OO-SBL%22&f=falsehttps://books.google.nl/books?id=dly9axBP4O4C&lpg=PA104&ots=aTlaBzok_K&dq=%22OO-SBL%22&hl=nl&pg=PA105#v=onepage&q=%22OO-SBL%22&f=falsePrimary Cause
Pilot-induced descent due to insufficient cloud base altitude.Pilot-induced descent due to insufficient cloud base altitude.Share on:
