South African Airways Flight 295 · Indian Ocean
On November 28, 1987, South African Airways Flight 295 (Indian Ocean). 159 people died.
- Date
- November 28, 1987
- Place
- Indian Ocean
- Operator
- South African Airways
- Killed
- 159
- Position
- 19.175°S, 59.633°E
- Wikidata ID
- Q715683
From Wikipedia
South African Airways Flight 295, sometimes referenced and known as the Helderberg disaster, was a scheduled international passenger flight from Chiang Kai-shek International Airport, Taipei, Taiwan, to Jan Smuts International Airport, Johannesburg, South Africa, with a stopover in Plaisance Airport, Plaine Magnien, Mauritius. On November 28, 1987, the aircraft serving the flight, a Boeing 747 named Helderberg, experienced a catastrophic in-flight fire in the cargo area, broke up in mid-air, and crashed into the Indian Ocean east of Mauritius, killing all 159 passengers and crew on board. An extensive salvage operation was mounted to try to recover the aircraft's flight recorders, one of which was recovered from a depth of 16,100 feet (4,900 m), deeper than the depth to which the Titanic sank.
The official inquiry, headed by Judge Cecil Stanley Margo, was unable to determine the cause of the fire.
Text from Wikipedia, “South African Airways Flight 295”, CC BY-SA 4.0; shortened to the introduction. Authors.
Source: Wikidata (CC0) and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Figures such as deaths are as recorded there and may differ from official reports.
