VISCOUNT DOWN
Product Details
Nell (Keith)
484 Pages. Hardback, jacket. New condition. With accompanying DVD. 1st Edition, published 2010. Narrative texts illustrated with photographs, sketches and maps. ISBN 978-0-620-49358-1.
VISCOUNT DOWN A True Story
Two Air Rhodesia Vickers Viscount civilian aircraft were shot down by guerrillas during the Rhodesian Bush War in separate disasters in 1978 and 1979. Both aircraft were downed by Soviet-supplied Strela-2 (SA-7) heat-seeking missiles fired by fighters from the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA).
Air Rhodesia Flight 825
- Date: September 3, 1978.
- Incident: Shortly after taking off from Kariba, the aircraft was struck by a missile in its starboard wing. The pilots crash-landed the plane, and 18 of the 56 people on board initially survived.
- Fatalities: The tragedy was compounded when ZIPRA guerrillas reached the crash site. They rounded up and massacred 10 of the survivors on the ground, bringing the total death toll to 48 people.
- Aftermath: The attack shocked Rhodesians and ended ongoing peace talks between Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith and ZIPRA leader Joshua Nkomo. Retaliatory raids were carried against again guerrilla camps in Zambia, resulting the famous "Green Leader" transmission shutting down Zambian airspace.
Air Rhodesia Flight 827
- Date: February 12, 1979.
- Incident: Just five months after the first attack, another Vickers Viscount was shot down by a Strela-2 missile shortly after takeoff from Kariba.
- Fatalities: The plane burst into flames and crashed into a ravine. All 59 passengers and crew on board were killed, making it the deadliest aviation incident in Rhodesia's history.
- Aftermath: Following the second shootdown, Air Rhodesia implemented new safety measures. The airline coated the underside of its remaining Viscounts with low-radiation paint and shrouded the engines' exhaust pipes to reduce the aircraft's heat signature and prevent further missile attacks.
The author was a member of the Rhodesian S.A.S. and was involved in follow-up operations and the retaliatory raids into Zambia against ZIPRA forces.
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