page_title: 1986 Mozambican Tupolev Tu-134 crash
section_title: Start of descent and 37° turn
hierarchical_section_title: 1986 Mozambican Tupolev Tu-134 crash / Crash / Start of descent and 37° turn
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Physische Positionskarte von Mosambik Quadratische Plattkarte, N-S-Streckung 105&#160;%. Geographische Begrenzung der Karte: N: 10.2° S S: 27.4° S W: 29.8° O O: 41.8° O English: Physical location map of Mozambique Equirectangular projection, N/S stretching 105&#160;%. Geographic limits of the map: N: 10.2° S S: 27.4° S W: 29.8° E E: 41.8° E
context_page_description: On 19 October 1986, a Tupolev Tu-134 jetliner belonging to the Mozambican People's Republic carrying President Samora Machel and 43 others from Mbala, Zambia to the Mozambican capital Maputo crashed at Mbuzini, South Africa. Nine passengers and one crew member survived the crash, but President Machel and 33 others died, including ministers and officials of the Mozambican government.
  A board of enquiry blamed the captain for failing to react to the Ground Proximity Warning System. Others have claimed that the crew had set the VOR receivers to the wrong frequency, causing them to receive signals from a different airport, or even that a false beacon had been set-up to lure the plane off course. While there was widespread suspicion that the apartheid-regime of South Africa was involved in the crash, no conclusive evidence has emerged.
context_section_description: At 20:46, the flight made its first radio contact with Maputo Air Traffic Control (ATC), reporting its position and that it was continuing towards the Maputo VHF Omnidirectional Range (VOR) navigation beacon while maintaining an altitude of 35,000 feet (11,000 m). At 21:02 the crew radioed that they were ready to begin descending, and after being instructed by the Maputo controller to report reaching 3,000 feet MSL or when the runway lights were in sight, began their descent for an ILS approach to runway 23.
  Over the next eight minutes the aircraft maintained its required track toward Maputo with minor lateral deviations. Then at 21:10 the aeroplane commenced a turn away from Maputo to the right, lasting almost one minute in duration and a resulting heading change from 184° magnetic to 221°. At this time the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) recorded the navigator stating the distance remaining to Maputo as 100 kilometres (62 mi; 54 nmi), then a comment from the captain about the turn, and the navigator's response that the "VOR indicates that way".
  Around 21:15 the navigator stated that the distance to Maputo was 60 kilometres (37 mi; 32 nmi). Over the next few minutes, there were several comments from the crew indicating that they believed the navigational aids at Maputo were unavailable: the captain stated that "there is no Maputo" and "electrical power is off, chaps!", while the navigator reported that the Instrument Landing System (ILS) and Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) were switched off and that the non-directional beacons (NDBs) were not working.
caption: Crash site near the converging borders of Mozambique, Swaziland, and South Africa
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