South African Airways Flight 295

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**South African Airways Flight 295**
Summary
Date	November 28, 1987
Type	Catastrophic fire
Site	Indian Ocean (off Mauritius)
Fatalities	159
Injuries	0
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing B-747-244B Combi
Operator	South African Airways
Tail number	ZS-SAS
Passengers	140
Crew	19
Survivors	0

South African Airways Flight 295 was a commercial flight which suffered a catastrophic fire and crashed on November 28, 1987.

Flight 295, a Boeing B-747-244B Combi, registered ZS-SAS, called the Helderberg and flying the colors of South African Airways, took off from Chiang Kai Shek International Airport near Taipei, Taiwan, on a flight to Johannesburg via Mauritius. 140 passengers and 19 crew were on the manifest. All were killed.

While the Helderberg was over the Indian Ocean, a fire had occurred in the main cargo hold, originating on one of the six cargo pallets inside. The fire disoriented and incapacitated the crew, leading to the crash.

A commission of inquiry was chaired out by Judge Cecil Margo, who determined eventually that no clear causes for the crash could be determined. Nonetheless, of late there has been significant controversy around the crash and the subsequent commission's report, with some conspiracy theorists claiming that the aircraft was carrying dangerous cargo related to the government's weapons programs, however nobody has been able to furnish any proof that this was in fact the case, and at best it is only speculation.

There also have been unsubstantiated rumour of a cockpit voice recording transcript, allegedly from the Helderberg, which revealed that the captain notified the crew that the plane was carrying explosives. The captain had purportedly initially refused to fly, but he flew anyway, after having been threatened with immediate dismissal. However, this voice recording has not been produced in a court of law and all that exists is a transcript which has not been authenticated, experts who were involved in the Helderberg investigation immediately contested the authenticity of the transcript, claiming it was fraudulent.

The result was that the South African Department of Transport conducted a review of all the evidence and new developments. In 2002 it announced that no new evidence had emerged that would justify a new inquiry into the crash.

Therefore, the finding of the commission chaired by Judge Margo, which found no definitive cause, remains the official standpoint on the crash.

[edit] Trivia

Kazuharu Sonoda (薗田一治, a.k.a Magic Dragon), a Japanese professional wrestler, was killed on this flight, along with his bride. They were on their honeymoon.