Narrative:The C-47A transport plane was being ferried from Blackbushe, U.K. to Pretoria's Waterkloof Air Base in South Africa with intermediate stops at Istres, France; Rome, Italy; Athens, Greece; Cairo, Egypt; Wadi Haifa, Khartoum, and Juba, Sudan; Kisumu and Ndola.
The airplane crashed into Lake Victoria immediately after takeoff.
Two months later, on July 11, 1945 another SAAF C-47 crashed under similar circumstances. In December 1942 a SAAF Lockheed Lodestar had also crashed into Lake Victoria on takeoff from Kisumu.
The cause of the accidents is currently thought to be the katabatic wind condition which often affects Kisumu in the early morning.
Sources:
» Peter Duby
Photos
Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does
not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Kisumu Airport to Ndola Airport as the crow flies is 1576 km (985 miles).
This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.