ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 329923
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| Date: | Thursday 4 April 1974 |
| Time: | 02:35 |
| Type: |  Douglas DC-4 |
| Owner/operator: | Wenela Air Services |
| Registration: | A2-ZER |
| MSN: | 27242 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1944 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 78 / Occupants: 84 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed, written off |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | 3,6 km from Francistown Airport (FRW) -
 Botswana
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Francistown Airport (FRW/FBFT) |
| Blantyre-Chileka Airport (BLZ/FWCL) |
The DC-4 took off from Francistown runway 11 at 02:32. The engine temperatures started to rise, even after opening the gills. When temperatures exceeded the limit, the engines started backfiring. A left hand circuit was made to return to the airport, but the aircraft kept descending and crash-landed 3600 m short of the runway. The aircraft struck some trees and burst into flames.
PROBABLE CAUSE: Powerloss on all 4 engines due to fuel contamination. A load of Jet A1 (Avtur) fuel had been unloaded in one of the Aviation gasoline (Avgas) tanks, causing a contamination of 25-30%.
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