Really...?
I thought the SAA Helderberg Combi crew fought the fire on the cargo deck for hours.
Some of the crew went in there and did not return...
The Captain was told by SAA Ops via HF not use Diego but to press on for Mauritius.
Story was they had rocket fuel on board from the Orient in the arms embargo days of Apartheid...
Did not want the world to know this, of course.
Somewhere short of Mauritius the aircraft went into a nosedive and the tail broke off.
Not sucking this out of my thumb.
It was common local knowledge at the time.
Just Google SAA Helderberg.
The Wikipedia report says it all.
Also YouTube search SAA Helderberg.
Last edited by DriverAirframeOneOf; 5th Apr 2014 at 03:11.