Douglas DC-3 crash in Pretoria

The Douglas DC-3 air crash in Pretoria on 24 August 1998 was a technical accident of a Douglas DC-3 cargo aircraft in South Africa. The Speed Service Couriers cargo flight was a domestic cargo flight from Pretoria to Durban, Republic of South Africa. On 24 August 1998, an Aero Modifications AMI DC-3-65TP aircraft crashed during takeoff from Pretoria International Airport; 1 of the 2 pilots on board was killed.

Crash

The aircraft had just passed a phase 1 inspection in Pretoria. The final power assurance checks were carried out on the aircraft's engines on the morning of the day of the accident. The Aircraft Maintenance Engineer moved the trim to the nose-up position in accordance with the rules, to reduce the load, put the tail in the down position during the engine power check, but he did not set the elevator trim back to the neutral position on completion of the check. At the pilot's request the engineer moved the ailerons and elevator of the external gust locks and the landing gear down of the locking pins. He left the rudder locked, which was later moved by one of the pilots. The pilot did not carry out a pre-flight inspection. The aircraft then taxied to runway 11 for departure on a mail delivery flight. At a height of 20 metres, the aircraft began to climb steeply before the left flap was damaged. The aircraft then caught fire. The co-pilot, who had not fastened his seat belt, suffered fatal injuries.