Helderberg air disaster conspiracy theories debunked

Silence fell as retired SAA captain Karl Jensen took the rostrum at Cafe@The Vary, Kempton Park, on February 21, and opened his discuss concerning the SAA 295 Helderberg catastrophe.

Stuffed to capability, aviation fans gathered to hear because the South African Air Power Affiliation (SAAFA) member and former pilot, who accomplished 83 profitable flights on the now notorious craft, dispelled conspiracy theories concerning the November 28, 1987, mid-air catastrophe that claimed the lives of 159 crew and passengers.

Sitting round tables set in blue, white and orange, in tribute of the SAA Boeing 747-244 Tremendous B Combi, these in attendance waited in anticipation for Jensen to disclose findings of the investigation, which was carried out after the plane plunged into the Indian Ocean.

Clearly emotional, Jensen defined that he has executed in depth analysis into the matter and has hosted numerous shows in an effort to make sure that the true nature of the incident is well-known thus placing false data and outlandish theories to mattress.

“At a value of R63mil every, SAA took possession of the 2 Boeing 747-244 Tremendous B Combi crafts in November 1980. The crafts have been christened the Helderberg and Waterberg,” mentioned the extremely adorned 747 pilot of 26 years.

“The Helderberg launched into its first flight to Taipei, Taiwan on November 24, seven years earlier than crashing into the topaz colored water east of Mauritius.”

Based on the flight manifesto, the flight to the previous Jan Smuts Worldwide Airport, was delayed by 60 minutes as a consequence of storm and storm warnings off the coast of Taipei.

“Poor climate situations delayed an incoming flight carrying passengers from a connecting flight. The delay was not as a consequence of unauthorised payload of army munitions, bombs and even nuclear warheads being loaded into the cargo maintain, as many conspiracy theorists would really like you to consider,” mentioned Jensen

“The 47 tons of cargo onboard the aircraft was inspected in step with manifesto and aviation requirements.”Smoke within the cockpit

Jensen detailed the recognized timeline following the flight’s departure at 22:23 native time.

Simply after 23:30, 49-year-old Dawid Jacobus Uys, a former South African Air Power pilot with greater than 13 000 hours flight expertise of which 3 884 hours was on the Boeing 747 collection airplanes, radioed Mauritian site visitors management, positioned at Plaisance Airport close to Port Louis, reporting smoke within the craft’s cockpit.

On the time the craft requested clearance to descend to five 000 ft in preparation to make an emergency touchdown.Clearance was granted.

“It is very important notice that an plane’s voice recorder, or the black field as it’s usually referred to, information half-hour of exchanges,” he explains.

“Each half-hour, these exchanges are over-written. Recordings recovered from the field contained 28 minutes of radio exchanges earlier than all communications seized. The final radio message from the flight deck was merely ‘Ok,’ a chilling utterance given the following tragedy.”

Search and recoveryAnalog wrist watches recovered from the wreckage all stopped on the similar time thus placing the time of influence at 00:07. This was later corroborated by an area fisherman who reported seeing a ball of fireside crashing into the ocean at the moment.

“This eyewitness account was very important within the seek for the lacking flight,” mentioned Jensen, his voice strained.“The craft was positioned inside two days and a 15 week retrieval operation from the deck of the Stena Workhorse, commenced.

“The ROV Gemini submersible was used to meticulously retrieve particles which had settled greater than 4km on the backside of the ocean ground.”

Reconstruction of the 380ton craft was executed and early investigations recognized hearth harm at a piece of the bulkhead (prime) of the aircraft.

“Uneducated hypothesis claimed that unauthorised munitions within the cargo maintain might have exploded resulting in the downing of the aircraft,” he mentioned.

“Investigations nonetheless discovered that the hearth onboard flight 295 didn’t attain under 1.5 meters of the cargo deck, proving that it began larger up.

“Following in depth investigations and simulations it was decided that moist archs, emitted from the loom of wiring which incorporates electrical cabling, oxygen and different working parts, positioned on the bulkhead of the aircraft, triggered sparks thus resulting in a quick spreading hearth.

“Submit-mortems additional indicated that these onboard suffered from smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning. Everybody had most definitely died earlier than hitting the water.”

Wiping tears from his eyes, Jensen concluded by saying that following the catastrophic catastrophe, SAA bought the Waterberg 747-244 Tremendous B Combi and its coverage was amended stating that mixture crafts (passenger and cargo) will not kind a part of its fleet.

A complete of R300mil was paid out in compensation packages to these affected.

“What occurred within the early hours of November 28 can solely be described as an unthinkable catastrophe,” he mentioned.

“Many households have been torn aside, kids misplaced their mother and father and us, at SAA, misplaced expensive buddies. My sole function by internet hosting these talks is devoted to their reminiscence.”

For extra details about SAAFA and their month-to-month conferences, contact department chairperson Roelf Rossouw on 073 186 7761 or rossouwrj1@gmail.com