Plane Crash 1962/63

[Islay]

I am looking on information on a plane crash believed to have been caused by a bomb in Africa or South Africa very late 62 first 4 months of 63.
I believed it crashed into a hillside and could not be recovered - not a lot to go on I know.
Thanks

[wolf63]

Here is a starting point
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accidents_and_incidents_involving_commercial_aircraft#1982

[jeanyb]

Air France flight 406?

[jeanyb]

Sorry, more info - happened in Algeria, bomb on board, May 1961

[Kidas]

Not finding much

In this list:
http://www.planecrashinfo.com/1962/1962.htm
is this incident: in March 1962
http://www.planecrashinfo.com/1962/1962-9.htm
Mountain, Africa, but no bomb.

In 1963 we have this incident in August
http://www.planecrashinfo.com/1963/1963-38.htm

You may also be interested in this that suggests the first plane brought down by a bomb while in flight was thought to be in 1962:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_airliner_bombing_attacks

[Islay]

All I know was it was a commercial flight, the family member that died was never recovered and it must have happened pre July 63 as the MIL was pregnant when the crash happened .

[Kidas]

Only one I can find in that window in Africa is this:

https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19630503-1

[Kidas]

"The four engine aircraft departed Douala Airport at 1416LT bound for Lagos. While climbing to an altitude of 6,500 feet, the airplane struck the slope of Mt Cameroon located 63 km northwest of Douala Airport. The wreckage was located few hours later 800 meters below the summit. Two passengers were seriously injured while 53 other occupants were killed. Three days after the crash, on May 6, one of the survivor died from his injuries and on May 9, the second survivor died as well. "

From https://www.baaa-acro.com/country/cameroon?page=2 (need to scroll down a bit)

I suspect this is not the one your relative was involved in, as the wreck was found quite quickly. But it may be that they did not recover the bodies.

Thing is, the databases that are supposed to list all air accidents - commercial and military - don't mention any other incident in Africa in the time window between late '62 and Jul '63.

So... Maybe?

[wolf63]

This probably duplicated info already posted but you never know
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Afrique

[Islay]

Sounds promising I could of course ask the mil but as you can imagine it’s a very painful memory for her

[Kidas]

OK, found another database:

https://aviation-safety.net/database/dblist.php?Year=1963

I found another couple of incidents in the right time window, but none of them fits your description:

A very old plane crashed in the Congo with very little data, but appears to have crashed at airport:
https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19630329-0

Another similar incident in Algeria: old plane crashed at airport
https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19630522-0

This one right at the end of the time window where an old plane crashed on take-off at Madagascar
https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19630715-0

None of those looks at all likely, but if you go through the list at the top of this post, you might find others that I have missed.

I also looked through the database for 1962 Sep-Dec and found nothing to match your description.

Looks like it was the Cameroon one. For more info, try searching for the plane registration: F-BIAO

Good luck!

[wolf63]

Have you tried searching from another angle? Google the name of of the person, maybe a local newspaper will have mentioned the death.

Bed time for me x

[Islay]

Its all very strange and we have always suspected that there was more to this story that we were being told.
Apparently he worked in import/export and was never supposed to be on the plane as it was his partners turn.
Perhaps we will learn more next week - she always gets a tad maudlin after a beer or two.

[237SJ]

Was it definitely 62/63? Bombing planes wasn't that popular at that time.

[Islay]

Yeah she was pregnant with my brother in law and he was born in 63.
I only have her word that it was a bomb, she does tend to embellish things to make it more Danielle Steele.

[237SJ]

Sounds interesting though. It will be interesting to hear if you find out more about it. The reason I asked is because an aircraft flew into Kilimanjaro and when I climbed up it, I could see the remains glinting in the sunlight. I think it crashed in the 50s though

[Islay]

Well we are taking her away next week so may get some more information, I know for sure that he died in a crash in Africa and that it crashed into the side of a mountain. Terribly sad really they had only been married a year after waiting 5 years for his families permission.

[237SJ]

That's very sad