ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 278145
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| Date: | Thursday 10 June 1948 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: | Miles M.65 Gemini 1A |
| Owner/operator: | Missionary Aviation Fellowship |
| Registration: | G-AJZK |
| MSN: | 6466 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Mount Heha, Burundi Highlands, Bujumbura Rural province -
 Burundi
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Bujumbura (Usumbura) Burundi |
| Nairobi, Kenya | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Miles M.65 Gemini 1A G-AJZK: First registered (C of A 9629/C of R 11724/1) on 30-7-47 to Missionary Aviation Fellowship, London N.1. Ownership amended 22-12-47 to World Evangelical Trust Ltd at same address. Aircraft named "Mildmay Pathfinder"
Although the Gemini was ordered in September 1946, it took right up to the delivery date in 1947 for sufficient funds to come in to pay the balance. The aeroplane, G-AJZK, was delivered to Broxbourne, Hertfordshire.
Following a dedication service it was taken on a tour of the UK to get to know the aircraft thoroughly and to raise interest and support. It was clearly a success, as even today there are people who remember a flight in the new machine and went on to become long-term supporters.
The Gemini had many pleasing features including a perspex canopy, not unlike many of the wartime aircraft flown by MAF's early pilots. It had a retractable undercarriage which facilitated streamline flight and large wing flaps, that when lowered, enabled the plane to land slowly and safely on quite short airstrips. The two small engines gave a cruising speed of 120 mph. Departed Croydon Airport for the Belgian Congo 25-2-48
It wasn't until it reached Africa that the pioneers realised it's limitations. The Gemini's normally aspirated engines struggled in some of the locations, like Eritrea where MAF planned to operate. In the tropics, the lower density of the air robs a light plane of both power and lift.
Returning indirectly to Nairobi through the small kingdom of Burundi, disaster struck. On 10-6-48 the Gemini was climbing slowly through rising valleys of the Burundi foothills. It needed to get above 8,500 feet to clear the mountains ahead, but as it approached the highest peaks a strong headwind generated a downdraught off the hills which quickly converted the climb into a sink rate of 350 feet per minute, even at full throttle. Jack turned the aircraft away but it kept on going down. The starboard wingtip clipped a banana tree and G-AJZK hit the ground.
King recalled, “There was a cloud of dust, we slid down the mountainside and came to a halt, the aeroplane breaking up around us as we went”. In Hemmings’ words, “We just opened a door and climbed out and neither of us suffered any more than a scratch”.
The Gemini was written off, its main spar broken. Said King, “all our work for two years — getting the funds, buying the plane and all the work we had done was matchwood beside us on the mountainside.”
Having survived the crash, it took nine days to get back to Nairobi. The journey would have taken four hours by air. When the insurance money for the Gemini came through the MAF purchased its second aeroplane, a 10-seat DH Dragon Rapide".
Mount Heha is the highest mountain in Burundi (at 2,684 m (8,806 ft)) and the highest point in the Burundi Highlands mountain range. It is located in the Bujumbura Rural province of Burundi and it lies approximately 20 km to the east of Lake Tanganyika and about 30 km to the southeast of Bujumbura, the largest city and former capital of Burundi.
Sources:
1. www.maf-uk.org/plane/miles-gemini
2. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AJZK.pdf
3. https://www.maf-uk.org/story/1948-miles-gemini-survey-of-africa
4. https://www.key.aero/article/men-mission
5. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/archive/Archive_1993.pdf
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Heha
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 15-May-2022 05:17 | Ron Averes | Added |
| 20-Sep-2022 15:26 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Date, Time, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category] |
| 20-Sep-2022 15:27 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 23-Sep-2022 00:39 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
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