Sabena accident near Gao
Douglas DC-3-455 · Loss of control after engine failure
From Brussels Airport (BRU) to Ndolo Airport (NLO)
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
- 3 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- 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
- Airline
Douglas DC-3-455
- Aircraft type
- Douglas DC-3
- 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
- OO-CBA
- Operator
- Sabena
- Onboard fatalities
- 3
- Route
- From Brussels Airport (BRU)To Ndolo Airport (NLO)
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft power plant
- Aircraft › Aircraft systems
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Estimated position: Gao, near the place the Wikipedia article names. Not the accident site.
From the Wikipedia article
The Sabena accident near Gao occurred on 24 July 1951, when a Sabena Douglas DC-3-455 operating an intercontinental cargo flight from Brussels to Léopoldville crashed on takeoff from Gao Airport after a scheduled intermediate stop in Gao. The three crew members were killed in the accident.
Accident sequence
Shortly after takeoff from runway 25 of Gao Airport, the aircraft turned 90 degrees to the left during the initial climb at a height of 10 metres and then climbed to a height of 30 metres while turning 90 degrees to the left again, thereby turning onto the downwind leg for the runway. Shortly afterwards, however, the aircraft turned a third time, went into a sideslip and lost height. The DC-3 then struck the ground with its left wingtip and burst into flames. All three crew members were killed.
Investigation and cause
Cause
It turned out that the right engine had failed shortly after rotation. A leak had occurred in the hydraulic system in the process. Hydraulic fluid sprayed onto the cockpit windows and temporarily impaired the vision of the pilots, who then lost control of the aircraft.
Translated into English with AI assistance from the German Wikipedia article “Flugunfall der Sabena bei Gao” (revision 238214717, retrieved 2026-09-19) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out; the translation may contain errors, and long articles were cut to their first 700 words. Read the article
Sources
German Wikipedia article: Flugunfall der Sabena bei Gao
- Translation
- Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
- Revision
- 238214717 · 2023-10-16 · retrieved 2026-09-19
- Wikidata
- Q97940178
- 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
- de Wikipedia article "Flugunfall der Sabena bei Gao" (page 11400799, revision 238214717), translated into English with AI assistance
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- place the Wikipedia infobox site links (Wikidata 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 is an airline according to Wikidata
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia article lead
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the German Wikipedia article's infobox, translated into English with AI assistance, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.