2012 South African Air Force C-47 crash
35 Sqn, South African Air Force Douglas C-47 Dakota · Pilot error
From Waterkloof Air Force Base (WKF) to K. D. Matanzima Airport (UTT)
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 11 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 11
- Survivors
- 0
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Military
Douglas C-47 Dakota
- Aircraft type
- Douglas C-47
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- 6840
- Operator
- 35 Sqn, South African Air Force
- Onboard fatalities
- 11
- Route
- From Waterkloof Air Force Base (WKF)To K. D. Matanzima Airport (UTT)
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
On 5 December 2012, a Douglas C-47 Dakota of the South African Air Force crashed in the Drakensberg Mountains, South Africa, killing all eleven people on board.
Accident
The aircraft was on a flight from AFB Waterkloof to Mthatha Airport when it crashed near Giant's Castle in the Drakensberg, killing all eleven people on board. Shortly before the crash at 09:45 hours South African Standard Time (07:45 UTC), the crew reported that they were flying on instruments at 11000 ft in instrument meteorological conditions.
On board were six crew members and five passengers. Former South African President Nelson Mandela's medical team were initially reported to have been on board the aircraft, but this was later found not to be the case. An initial search by an Atlas Oryx helicopter had to be abandoned due to poor visibility.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
A Board of Inquiry was convened by the South African Air Force to investigate the cause of the accident.
Text from the Wikipedia article “2012 South African Air Force C-47 crash” (revision 1365480845, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: 2012 South African Air Force C-47 crash
- Revision
- 1365480845 · 2026-07-22 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q4626654
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "2012 South African Air Force C-47 crash" (page 38423386, revision 1365480845)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- operator named as an armed force or military unit in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.