A Memorial being laid in 1998

   
The Hunyani Disaster
The Umniati Disaster
Many thanks to Alice Stotter who provided much of the news cuttings for this site.

THE SHOOTING DOWN OF TWO AIR RHODESIA AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 1978 & FEBRUARY 1979

For many years the Viscounts had operated a service every day from Salisbury to Kariba to Wankie National Park to Victoria Falls and returning to Salisbury by the reverse route. It was on the last leg from Kariba to Salisbury on the 3rd of September 1978 that Air Rhodesia Flight RH825 sent a Mayday call. The aircraft "The Hunyani" with fifty two passengers and four crew members on board was hit by a heat seeking Sam 7 missile. It had been fired by ZIPRA men ..... terrorists, guerrillas, combatants, comrades, cadres, freedom fighters, soldiers (depending on your viewpoint)

Half an hour after the crash a group of ZIPRA men arrived on the scene. They then opened fire with their AK 47's and killed 7 women 1 man and 2 children who had survived the crash. ...........................................Ten died after surviving the crash.

On the 12 Feb. 1979 another Viscount "The Umniati" Air Rhodesia Flight RH827 was shot down not far from the site of the first crash. This time all 59 on board where lost.
The Rhodesia Herald..14/9/78.."The Soviet Union and Cuba gave recently 137 ground to air missiles to a Zambian based Rhodesian nationalist organisation, Mr Bernard Muvuti, secretary for commerce for ZANU, said yesterday."

Other related websites

Viscount Down Book due out August 2010