The 1993 Zambia national football team air disaster occurred in the late evening of 27
April 1993 when a Zambian Air Force de Havilland Canada DHC-5D Buffalo crashed into the Atlantic
Ocean about 500 metres offshore from Libreville, Gabon. The flight was carrying most of the
Zambian national football team to a FIFA World Cup Qualifier against Senegal in Dakar. All
25 passengers and five crew members were killed. A Gabonese official investigation into the
accident concluded that the pilot had shut down the wrong engine after a fire. The investigation
found that pilot fatigue and an instrument error had contributed to the accident.
Accident The flight had been specially arranged by
the Zambian Air Force for the football team. The journey was scheduled to make three refuelling
stops; the first at Brazzaville, Congo, the second at Libreville, Gabon, and the third
at Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
At the first stop in Brazzaville engine problems were noted. Despite this, the flight continued
and a few minutes after taking off from the second stop in Libreville the left engine
caught fire and failed. The pilot, who had also flown the team from a match in Mauritius
the previous day, then shut down the right engine, causing the plane to lose all power
during the climb out of Libreville Airport and fall into the water 500 m offshore. A
Gabonese report released in 2003 attributed the pilot's actions to a faulty warning light
and fatigue on the part of the pilot. Aircraft
The aircraft entered service in 1975. The plane had been out of service for five months
from late 1992 until 21 April 1993. Test flights were carried out on 22 April and 26 April.
Prior to the departure for Senegal, checks revealed a number of defects in the engine:
carbon particles in oil filters, disconnected cables and trace of heating. However, the
flight went ahead as scheduled. Passengers
The Chipolopolo were a very promising Zambia national team. At the 1988 Olympic Games in
Seoul they thrashed Italy 4-0. They had their eyes on the 1993 Africa Cup of Nations trophy
and a place at their first World Cup. All 30 passengers and crew, including 18 players,
as well as the national team coach and support staff, died in the accident. The Chipolopolo's
captain, Kalusha Bwalya—later national team coach and now president of the Football Association
of Zambia—was not aboard the ill-fated flight as he was in the Netherlands playing for PSV
at that time and had made separate arrangements to make his own way to Senegal to take part
in the match. Charles Musonda, at the time playing in Belgium for Anderlecht, was previously
injured and thus was not on the flight. Bennett Mulwanda Simfukwe, who had been seconded to
the FAZ by his employers for 5 years and was supposed to be on this flight, survived the
crash because his employers demanded that he should immediately be removed from the
list of those who were officially scheduled to travel to Senegal.
Investigation A campaign to have the Gabonese crash investigation
publicly released continued into the 2000s. In November 2003 a preliminary crash investigation
report was released by the Gabonese government. Despite this relatives of the victims continue
to lobby the Zambian government to produce a report on how the aircraft was allowed to
leave Zambia. Aftermath
The members of the national team killed in the crash were buried in what became known
as "Heroes' Acre," just outside the Independence Stadium in Lusaka.
A new side was quickly assembled, and led by Bwalya, faced up to the difficult task
of having to complete Zambia's World Cup qualifiers and then prepare for the upcoming African
Nations Cup which was only months away. The resurrected team defied the odds, and
displaying an offensive playing style, reaching the final against Nigeria. They took the lead
in the first half, but the Super Eagles quickly equalised and followed up with the winner
in the second half. In spite of the loss, the Zambian side returned home as national
heroes. In 2012, Zambia won the Africa Cup of Nations
in Libreville, only a few hundred metres inland from the crash site; the victory was dedicated
to the ones who lost their lives in the tragedy. Zambia beat Côte d'Ivoire 8-7 in a penalty
shoot out after the game ended 0-0 after normal and added time.
List of victims Crew
Colonel Fenton Mhone Lt Colonel Victor Mubanga
Lt Colonel James Sachika Warrant Officer Edward Nambote
Corporal Tomson Sakala Footballers
Efford Chabala John Soko
Whiteson Changwe Robert Watiyakeni
Eston Mulenga Derby Makinka
Moses Chikwalakwala Wisdom Mumba Chansa
Kelvin "Malaza" Mutale Timothy Mwitwa
Numba Mwila Richard Mwanza
Samuel Chomba Moses Masuwa
Kenan Simambe Godfrey Kangwa
Winter Mumba Patrick "Bomber" Banda
Coaching staff Godfrey "Ucar" Chitalu
Alex Chola Wilson Mtonga
Wilson Sakala Others
Michael Mwape Nelson Zimba
Joseph Bwalya Salim Source: "Today marks 19th Anniversary of Gabon
Air disaster". Lusaka Times. 27 April 2012. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
References
External links
BBC - Famous Air Crash Victims - Part 3: Sportsmen Accident description at the Aviation Safety
Network