1993 Zambia national football team air disaster
Encyclopedia
The 1993 Zambia national football team air disaster occurred in the late evening of 27 April 1993 when a Zambian Air Force
Zambian Air Force
The Zambian Air Force is the air force of Zambia.Following the creation of the Republic of Zambia in 1964, Zambian military avaition was organized as the Zambia Air Wing which lasted until 1968. The Zambian Air Force was then established....

 Buffalo DHC-5D
De Havilland Canada DHC-5 Buffalo
The de Havilland Canada DHC-5 Buffalo is a short takeoff and landing utility transport, a turboprop aircraft developed from the earlier piston-powered DHC-4 Caribou...

 (reg: AF-319) ditched into the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

 about 500 metres offshore from near Libreville
Libreville
Libreville is the capital and largest city of Gabon, in west central Africa. The city is a port on the Komo River, near the Gulf of Guinea, and a trade center for a timber region. As of 2005, it has a population of 578,156.- History :...

, Gabon
Gabon
Gabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...

. The flight was carrying most of the Zambian national football team
Zambia national football team
The Zambia national football team represents the country of Zambia in the sport of association football and is governed by the Football Association of Zambia. Before independence they were known as the Northern Rhodesia national football team. The side is nicknamed Chipolopolo as copper is one of...

 to a FIFA World Cup Qualifier
1994 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)
Listed below are the dates and results for the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the African zone . For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification....

 against in Dakar
Dakar
Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...

. 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
Brazzaville
-Transport:The city is home to Maya-Maya Airport and a railway station on the Congo-Ocean Railway. It is also an important river port, with ferries sailing to Kinshasa and to Bangui via Impfondo...

, Congo
Republic of the Congo
The Republic of the Congo , sometimes known locally as Congo-Brazzaville, is a state in Central Africa. It is bordered by Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo , the Angolan exclave province of Cabinda, and the Gulf of Guinea.The region was dominated by...

, the second at Libreville
Libreville
Libreville is the capital and largest city of Gabon, in west central Africa. The city is a port on the Komo River, near the Gulf of Guinea, and a trade center for a timber region. As of 2005, it has a population of 578,156.- History :...

, Gabon, and the third at Abidjan
Abidjan
Abidjan is the economic and former official capital of Côte d'Ivoire, while the current capital is Yamoussoukro. it was the largest city in the nation and the third-largest French-speaking city in the world, after Paris, and Kinshasa but before Montreal...

, Côte d'Ivoire
Côte d'Ivoire
The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...

.
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
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...

 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 500m 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, however the flight went ahead as scheduled.

Passengers

All 30 passengers and crew, including 18 players, as well as the national team coach and support staff, were lost in the accident. The Chipolopolo's captain and later national team coach, Kalusha Bwalya
Kalusha Bwalya
Kalusha Bwalya , known as simply Kalusha, is a Zambian footballer and coach. He is Zambia's most capped player, all-time top goalscorer, and is regarded as the greatest Zambian player to play the game...

, was not aboard the ill-fated flight as he was in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 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
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 for Anderlecht
R.S.C. Anderlecht
Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht, usually known as Anderlecht or RSCA , is a Belgian professional football club based in Anderlecht in the Brussels Capital Region. Anderlecht plays in the Belgian Pro League and is the most successful Belgian football team in European competitions as well as in the...

, was previously injured and thus was not on the flight. Bennett Mulwanda Simfukwe who had been on secondment to the Football Association Of Zambia (FAZ) by his employers (ZCCM) 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
Independence Stadium
Independence Stadium is a stadium owned by the city of Shreveport, Louisiana and is the home of the Independence Bowl.Formerly known as State Fair Stadium, it is the site of the annual Independence Bowl post-season college football game, initially the Bicentennial Bowl...

 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
Nigeria national football team
The Nigeria national football team, nicknamed the Super Eagles or Green Eagles, is the national team of Nigeria and is controlled by the Nigeria Football Federation . The team has ranked as high as 5th in the FIFA World Rankings, in April 1994...

. 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.

Crew

  • Colonel Fenton Mhone (pilot)
  • Lt Colonel Victor Mubanga (pilot)
  • Lt Colonel James Sachika (pilot)
  • Warrant Officer Edward Nambote (fitter)
  • Corporal Tomson Sakala (steward)

Footballers

  • Efford Chabala
    David Chabala
    David Efford Chabala , popularly known as Efford Chabala was Zambia's first choice goalkeeper from 1983 until his death in a plane crash off the Gabonese coast in 1993 and is probably Zambia’s most capped player, an achievement which has often been attributed to Kalusha Bwalya, his former team...

     (goalkeeper)
  • John Soko
    John Soko
    John Soko was a Zambian footballer and member of the national team. He was among those killed in the crash of the team plane in Gabon in 1993.-Career:Soko played club football for Nkana F.C. in Zambia....

     (defender)
  • Whiteson Changwe
    Whiteson Changwe
    Whiteson Changwe was a Zambian footballer and member of the national team. He was among those killed in the crash of the team plane in Gabon in 1993.-References:...

     (defender)
  • Robert Watiyakeni
    Robert Watiyakeni
    Robert Watiyakeni was a Zambian footballer and member of the national team. He was among those killed in the crash of the team plane in Gabon in 1993.-Career:Watiyakeni played professional club football in South Africa for Dynamos F.C....

     (defender)
  • Eston Mulenga
    Eston Mulenga
    Eston Mulenga was a Zambian footballer and member of the national team. He was among those killed in the crash of the team plane in Gabon in 1993.-Career:Mulenga played club football for Nkana F.C. in Zambia....

     (midfielder)
  • Derby Makinka
    Derby Makinka
    Derby Makinka was a Zambian footballer and member of the national team. He was among those killed in the crash of the team plane in Gabon in 1993.-Career:...

     (midfielder)
  • Moses Chikwalakwala
    Moses Chikwalakwala
    Moses Chikwalakwala was a Zambian footballer and member of the national team. He was among those killed in the crash of the team plane in Gabon in 1993.-References:...

     (midfielder)
  • Wisdom Mumba Chansa
    Wisdom Mumba Chansa
    Wisdom Mumba Chansa was a football player who began his career in the youth team at Zambian club side Rokana United before moving to their city rivals Power Dynamos FC. He soon established himself in the Power Dynamos side. He first played as an out-and-out striker before he adapted himself to a...

     (midfielder)
  • Kelvin "Malaza" Mutale
    Kelvin Mutale
    Kelvin Mutale was a Zambian footballer and member of the national team. He was among those killed in the crash of the team plane in Gabon in 1993.-Career:Mutale played club football for Nkana F.C...

     (striker)
  • Timothy Mwitwa
    Timothy Mwitwa
    Timothy Mwitwa was a Zambian footballer and member of the national team. He was among those killed in the crash of the team plane in Gabon in 1993.-Career:Mwitwa played club football for Nkana F.C...

     (striker)
  • Numba Mwila
    Numba Mwila
    Numba Mwila was a Zambian footballer and member of the national team. He was among those killed in the crash of the team plane in Gabon in 1993.-Personal:...

     (midfielder)
  • Richard Mwanza
    Richard Mwanza
    Richard Mwanza was a Zambian footballer and member of the national team. He was among those killed in the crash of the team plane in Gabon in 1993.-Career:Mwanza played club football for Kabwe Warriors F.C....

     (goalkeeper)
  • Samuel Chomba
    Samuel Chomba
    Samuel Chomba was a Zambian footballer and member of the national team. He was among those killed in the crash of the team plane in Gabon in 1993.-Career:Choma played club football for Kabwe Warriors F.C...

     (defender)
  • Moses Masuwa
    Moses Masuwa
    Moses Masuwa was a Zambian footballer and member of the national team. He was among those killed in the crash of the team plane in Gabon in 1993.-Reference:...

     (striker)
  • Kenan Simambe
    Kenan Simambe
    Kenan Simambe was a Zambian footballer and member of the national team. He was among those killed in the crash of the team plane in Gabon in 1993.-References:...

     (defender)
  • Godfrey Kangwa
    Godfrey Kangwa
    Godfrey Kangwa was a Zambian footballer and member of the national team. He was among those killed in the crash of the team plane in Gabon in 1993.-References:...

     (midfielder)
  • Winter Mumba
    Winter Mumba
    Winter Mumba was a Zambian footballer and member of the national team. He was among those killed in the crash of the team plane in Gabon in 1993.-Reference:...

     (defender)
  • Patrick "Bomber" Banda
    Patrick Banda
    Patrick Banda was a Zambian footballer and member of the national team. He was among those killed in the crash of the team plane in Gabon in 1993.-References:...

     (striker)

Coaching staff

  • Godfrey "Ucar" Chitalu
    Godfrey Chitalu
    Godfrey Chitalu was a Zambian footballer who is regarded as the greatest Zambian player ever and is also believed to hold the national team goal-scoring record...

  • Alex Chola
    Alex Chola
    Alex Chola was a Zambian international footballer of the 1970s and early 1980s. A talented attacking midfielder, he is regarded as one of the best Zambian footballers of his generation...

  • Wilson Mtonga (doctor)
  • Wilson Sakala

Others

  • Michael Mwape (FAZ
    Football Association of Zambia
    The Football Association of Zambia is the governing body of football in Zambia. It was founded in 1929, and affiliated to FIFA in 1964. It is also a member of the Confederation of African Football. It organizes the national football league and the national team.- External links :* * at the FIFA...

    Chairman)
  • Nelson Zimba (public servant)
  • Joseph Bwalya Salim (journalist)

External links

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