| Date: | Friday 22 April 1960 |
| Time: | 05:55 |
| Type: | Douglas C-54A-DO (DC-4) |
| Owner/operator: | Sobelair |
| Registration: | OO-SBL |
| MSN: | 3099 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1943 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 30594 hours |
| Engine model: | Pratt & Whitney R-2000-D5 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 35 / Occupants: 35 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed, written off |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | 8 km SE of Bunia Airport (BUX) -
Congo (Democratic Republic)
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi |
| Departure airport: | Cairo International Airport (CAI/HECA) |
| Destination airport: | Bunia Airport (BUX/FZKA) |
| Confidence Rating: | Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Narrative:A Douglas C-54 passenger plane was destroyed in an accident near Bunia, D.R.Congo. All 28 passengers and seven crew members were killed.
The Sobelair flight departed Brussel (BRU), Belgium at 09:11, April 21, on a flight to Elizabethville (now named Lubumbashi). Intermediate stops were planned at Rome, Cairo and Bunia. The flight left Cairo, Egypt at 20:49.
While descending towards Bunia, the C-54 flew into the Pic de Bogoro, some 60 metres below the summit.
PROBABLE CAUSE (translated from original French report): The accident occurred because the pilot, the captain, carried out a descent while the height of cloud base (ceiling) was below the minimum required by the Administration and the Operator.
Sources:
Rampen in België / Hans Van Riemsdijk, Christian Deglas Location
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