Shooting at a Sabena Douglas DC-3 near Maribor

The shooting of a Sabena Douglas C-47 near Maribor was an event in the Cold War. On 3 June 1954 a Douglas C-47-A-1-DK (a military version of the Douglas DC-3) of the Belgian airline Sabena with the registration OO-CBY, which was operating a charter cargo flight from Blackbushe Airport in England via Melsbroek Air Base in Belgium and Munich-Riem Airport to Belgrade-Dojno Polje Airport, was fired on by a Soviet MiG-15 over actually non-aligned Yugoslavia. The projectiles exploding inside the DC-3 killed the radio operator. The pilots managed to turn back and make an emergency landing at Graz Airport.

Course of events

The flight proceeded to Munich without any notable occurrences. The aircraft took off from Munich-Riem Airport at 08:03 local time for the onward flight to Belgrade, 55 minutes before the takeoff of the aircraft OO-AWK flying behind it.

According to air traffic control in Munich, the aircraft followed the Amber 10 route at 10,000 feet to the Salzburg non-directional beacon and then flew via the recommended route ADR569 towards the Graz non-directional beacon. The crew reported that the overflight of Salzburg would take place at 08:31 local time at 11,500 feet, i.e. as stated in the flight plan. The aircraft reached this altitude at 08:37. The Graz non-directional beacon was reached at 09:25 local time, and thus with a delay of four minutes. The pilots then changed course towards Zagreb. Between Graz and Zagreb the captain flew on route 12A at an altitude of 7,500 feet, as stated in the flight plan. The weather conditions were good. At 09:28 air traffic control in Vienna instructed the crew to contact air traffic control in Zagreb. Air traffic control in Vienna informed air traffic control in Zagreb at 09:30 that the aircraft was expected to reach Zagreb at 09:55 local time.

At about the same time the crew of the DC-3 noticed a Soviet MiG-15 fighter aircraft approaching their aircraft. According to Captain Devreese, First Officer Wilson was the first to notice the aircraft, four minutes after passing Graz. At first the fighter reportedly circled the aircraft at the same altitude from starboard to port. The MiG then reportedly came considerably closer to the DC-3. Wilson later stated that at this point he had felt the vibrations generated by the fighter's jet blast. He said he had been able to see the pilot's silhouette clearly. After a third approach the MiG reportedly disappeared from the DC-3's field of view, whereupon the crew members assumed that the pilot had only been carrying out an identification mission.

Radio operator Jozef Clauwaert was notified that a MiG was nearby. He came into the cockpit to see the aircraft and went back to his seat. Then the fighter attacked without warning and fired on the DC-3.

At least four projectiles hit the aircraft's fuselage skin, two exploded inside it. A third projectile did puncture the fuselage but did not fully penetrate it, instead exploding outside. Projectile fragments that hit the aircraft damaged, among other things, the right fuel tank. A fourth projectile did not explode but damaged the right wing and the outer landing flaps of this wing. The DC-3's hydraulic system was damaged and an elevator control cable was hit. The cockpit was pierced, as was the front window of one of the pilots. Some cockpit instruments and the VHF2 control panel were damaged. The chronometer stopped at 08:36 (GMT). Projectiles also penetrated the radio operator's cabin. Radio operator Jozef Marie Clauwaert was killed by an explosion. The commander, Devreese, was seriously injured by splinters in his shoulder, flight engineer Victor Sluyts only slightly. Some of the animals being carried were killed, others injured.

After the attack co-pilot Wilson asked flight engineer Sluyts to climb into the rear of the aircraft and inspect the wings and control flaps. The first inspection attempt failed because of smoke inside the aircraft. Sluyts tried a second time and noticed no visible structural damage. When the aircraft had flown back into the clouds, Captain Devreese told First Officer Wilson that he had been hit. Wilson then took over control of the aircraft for his injured colleague. He asked him to switch off the autopilot. When Devreese repeatedly failed to respond to his instructions because he had by then lost consciousness, Wilson switched off the autopilot himself and put the aircraft into a right-hand, spiralling descent. He flew …