LIBREVILLE — 1993 · Major Tragedy
The Zambia National Football Team Air Disaster
On the evening of 27 April 1993 a Zambian Air Force DHC-5 Buffalo transport carrying Zambia's national football team to a World Cup qualifier in Senegal crashed into the Atlantic minutes after taking off from Libreville, Gabon, where it had stopped to refuel. All 30 on board died, including 18 players, coaching staff and crew. According to a Gabonese report published in 2003, the left engine caught fire and the pilot, misled by a faulty warning light, shut down the healthy right engine. He had also flown the team back from Mauritius the day before, pointing to fatigue. In 2012 Zambia won the Africa Cup of Nations in Libreville, close to the crash site, and dedicated the title to the victims.
- Date
- 1993
- Place
- Gabon, Libreville, GA
- Category
- Major Tragedy
- Case Status
- Closed
- Coordinates
- 0.4500, 9.3800 ↗
Timeline of Events
- 27 April 1993The aircraft crashed into the sea after leaving Libreville.
- 1994A rebuilt team reached the Africa Cup of Nations final.
- 2003The Gabonese report cited engine failure and pilot error.
- February 2012Zambia won the Africa Cup of Nations in Libreville.
Sources
- Wikipedia — 1993 Zambia national football team plane crash en.wikipedia.org ↗
- BBC — 'Faulty plane' killed Zambia team news.bbc.co.uk ↗
- BBC Sport — Zambian footballers remember a lost generation of players bbc.co.uk ↗
- Wikipedia
- BBC
Source grade A: several independent sources, at least one an official record or reference work. If you spot a mistake or something missing, report it with "Suggest a correction" in the app.
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🕯️ This record was prepared with respect, in memory of those who lost their lives.