AIR RHODESIA FLIGHT RH825 – 3 SEPTEMBER 1978

ZIPRA terrorists shot down Air Rhodesia flight RH825, a scheduled passenger flight, on 03 September 1978. The Vickers Viscount YP-WAS, named the Hunyani, was flying the last leg of Air Rhodesia’s scheduled service from Victoria Falls to Salisbury, via Kariba. Most of the passengers had been on holiday at the Cutty Sark Hotel or the Caribbea Bay Hotel in Kariba.

Soon after take-off from Kariba Airport at 17:10 in the afternoon, the aircraft suddenly lurched, there was a loud bang, and the inner starboard engine burst into flames. Ground control received a mayday call from the aircraft’s captain, who reported, “Mayday, mayday, Rhodesia 825, I have lost both starboard engines. We are going in.” A Soviet-made Strela 2 surface-to-air infrared homing missile struck the aircraft, necessitating an emergency landing. The flight attendants made sure to strap in every passenger, but some passengers panicked. One man rushed up and down the aisle shouting for a fire extinguisher.

The captain kept control of the aircraft as it fell, aiming its nose for a cotton field in the Urungwe Tribal Trust Land, 50 miles west of Karoi. The passengers braced for impact. The wheels hit an unseen irrigation ditch in the cotton field, causing the aircraft to cartwheel and break up. Of the 52 passengers and four crew, 38 died in the crash. The rear seats housed the 18 survivors.

Dr. Cecil McLAREN, together with Tony HILL, tried to get survivors away from the flaming wreckage. Cheryl TILLEY tore her cotton dress to make bandages and began helping the wounded. Cecil, along with Sharon, Tracey, Robert, and Shannon, looked for water in a nearby village. The other 13 survivors stayed close to the wreckage. Villagers eventually gave Cecil, who spoke Shona, some water. They returned to the wreckage.

Cecil and his group went back to the village for more water. Meanwhile, nine terrorists reached the crash site. Three of the 13 survivors remaining at the crash site hid when they saw figures approaching: Tony took cover in the surrounding bush, while Hans HANSEN and his wife, Diana, did the same. The authorities rounded up ten other survivors and forced them to walk, carrying those who couldn’t. Then the terrorists opened automatic fire on them.

The light was failing, and as Cecil’s group made their way back to the wreckage, they heard gunfire. Thinking it was personal ammunition in the luggage exploding in the heat, they continued on their way and called out to the other passengers. The presence of more survivors alerted the terrorists, prompting them to open fire in their general direction. The group managed to flee.

After about two hours, the hidden survivors saw the terrorists return to the crash site at about 19:45, where they looted the cabin and suitcases before leaving again. After the terrorists left, Cecil’s group ran to a riverbed and walked along it to find a secluded spot where they spent the night. Cecil and his team were unaware that Tony and the Hansens had made it out alive at this point. Throughout the night they could hear the terrorists searching for them.

In the morning the small group moved up to a higher point where they hid between rocks and slept for a while. Later that morning they decided to search for help by heading for the main Salisbury-Kariba road. The villages along their route were not helpful, maybe out of fear or allegiance to the terrorists. After walking 12–15 kilometres, they reached the main road, and a police Land Rover finally picked them up. Rescue teams took Tony and the Hansens to Kariba Hospital, while helicopters airlifted Cecil and his group to Andrew Fleming Hospital in Salisbury. Searchers found the bodies of the ten survivors 10 to 15 metres apart; at least three of them had been repeatedly bayoneted after death.

On BBC television that same evening, the ZIPRA leader claimed responsibility for shooting down the aircraft, asserting that it was used for military purposes, and denied that they murdered the survivors.

At a memorial service held on 8th September 1978 at Salisbury’s Anglican Cathedral of St Mary and All Saints, approximately 2,500 people attended, while many more listened to the service on the radio. Dean John DE COSTA delivered a sermon criticising what he referred to as “deafening silence” from abroad: “Nobody who holds sacred the dignity of human life can be anything but sickened by the events surrounding the Viscount; but are we deafened by the voice of protest from nations that proclaim themselves civilised? We are not! Like men in the story of the Good Samaritan, they pass by on the other side.”

After the two Viscount attacks, the Anglican Cathedral in Salisbury put up brass plaques listing the names of the deceased, but following independence in 1980, someone removed them and stored them in the cathedral’s basement. Families of the survivors found them, and today both plaques are part of a monument at the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria. In 2012, the Viscount Memorial was erected at the Voortrekker Monument. A service inaugurated it on September 2, 2012. Two granite slabs, standing upright side by side, bear the engraved names of the deceased passengers and crew, topped by an emblem symbolising aircraft.

Some survivors tell of their ordeal after the crash and massacre, and troops show reporters over the crash site: https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/117327/

THE CREW – DECEASED
Captain John Eric Courtenay HOOD (36) was born in Bulawayo and educated at Allan Wilson School. He was recently married to his second wife, Diana. He had two daughters, aged 10 and 3, from a previous marriage. He joined Central African Airways in 1961 as a traffic assistant and became a commercial pilot in 1966. In 1967 he gained his airline transport pilot licence and converted to Viscounts in 1968. He became a captain on Viscounts in 1970 and had 8,000 flying hours. He served with the Rhodesian Air Force on a voluntary basis.

First Officer Garth George BEAUMONT (31) was born in Florida, South Africa. He attended school in Rhodesia. He was single. In 1974 he joined Air Rhodesia as a commercial pilot and converted to Viscounts. Later that year, he gained his licence to operate as an airline transport pilot. He had 4,000 flying hours.

Brenda-Ann Louise PEARSON (23), a flight attendant, was born in Salisbury and went to Marandellas High School.

Dulcie ESTERHUIZEN (21), a flight attendant, was born in Bulawayo and attended Northlea School. She previously worked for Rhodesia Railways and a finance house in Bulawayo.

The four crew members were posthumously awarded the Rhodesian Meritorious Conduct Medal (MCM) for brave and gallant conduct.

THE PASSENGERS – DECEASED
Fred J. BARKUIZEN (47), South Africa
Anns BARKUIZEN (48), South Africa
Walter BROWN (50), Fife, Scotland
Elizabeth BROWN (45), Fife, Scotland
Jeremy BULL (22), Gwelo
Karen BULL (23), Nurse, Bulawayo
Gary CALLOW (12), Salisbury
Walter FERRIER (57), Salisbury
Margaret FERRIER (54), Salisbury
Malcolm GILLESPIE (22), BSAP, Salisbury
Ramesh GULABH (34), Centrust Travel, Bulawayo, from a prominent Indian-Rhodesian family
Shakuntala GULABH (28)
Veena GULABH (8)
Leena GULABH (4)
Dahiben GULABH (58)
Aubrey HEWITT (64), Attorney, Bulawayo
Jeannete HEWITT (53), Teacher, Bulawayo
Audrey HEWITT (23)
Prabhaben lalloo (38), Milton Park, Salisbury
Meela LALLOO (20)
Romsla LALLOO (11)
Douglas LODER (58), Builder, Bulawayo
Margaret LODER (51), Headmistress, Carmel School, Bulawayo
Master Keith LODER (11)
Paul NICHOLLS (30), Salesman, Good Year Tyres, Bulawayo
Francis NICHOLLS (26)
Joan NICHOLLS (55)
Mark NICHOLLS (9)
Michelle NICHOLLS (7)
Ruth RAINEY (33), Salisbury
Roger SEATON (42), Salisbury
Cheryl TILLEY (20), clerk at Rhobank, Salisbury. Her 15-year-old brother, Colin, was murdered by terrorists outside his home in January 1978.
Vina Elizabeth “Betty” TRINDER (63), TTC, Bulawayo
Lida VAN BEUNINGEN (24), Marandellas
Peter VERMEULEN (51)
Mary VERMEULEN (49)
Ronald VERMEULEN (26), Aircraft Engineer, Salisbury
Alison VERMEULEN (27), Barclays Bank, Salisbury
Matthew WILGER (8), Bulawayo
Leanne WILGER (4), Bulawayo
Margaret WRAY (55), Bindura
Marianne WRAY (7), Bindura
John WRAY (9), Bindura
Dawn YOUNG (19), BSAP, Salisbury

THE PASSENGERS – SURVIVORS
Dr Cecil MCLAREN was born in Rhodesia of Rhodesian-born parents. He was returning to Salisbury after a 48-hour spell of duty as a visiting dentist to the Central African Generating Authority staff responsible for managing the dam. The return flight was his 59th take-off from Kariba. One of the last to board the plane, he was seated in the back next to a woman and her 4-year-old daughter. After the impact, Dr McLaren managed to release 4-year-old Tracey COLE from her seatbelt and got the child and her mother, Sharon COLE, out of a hole in the fuselage. He died in New Zealand in 1998.
Sharon COLE
Tracey COLE (4)
Robert HARGREAVES (28) was a newlywed from Hunters Hill working for Risco. He was returning from his honeymoon at Kariba. After impact, he was flung out of his seat. When his wife, Shannon, heard Dr McLaren shout at Sharon Cole to release her seatbelt, she released hers. The dentist helped her out, and Robert crawled out. Robert’s damaged back and neck resulted in months of pain and medical treatment, but he never fully recovered. He took his life.
Shannon HARGREAVES (18). Her hand was permanently disfigured.
Anthony (Tony) HILL (39), farmer near Salisbury
Hans HANSON (35), Danish-born businessman
Diane HANSON (31)