Air Rhodesia Flight 825 Air Rhodesia Flight 825 was a scheduled passenger flight that was deliberately shot down by Zimbabwe People ' s Revolutionary Army ( ZIPRA ) cadres on 3 September 1978 . The aircraft involved , a Vickers Viscount named the " Hunyani " , was flying the last leg of Air Rhodesia ' s regular scheduled service from Victoria Falls to the capital Salisbury , via the resort town of Kariba . Soon after Flight 825 took off , a group of ZIPRA guerrillas scored a direct hit on its starboard wing with a Soviet - made Strela 2 surface - to - air infrared homing missile , critically damaging the aircraft and forcing an emergency landing . An attempted belly landing in a cotton field just west of Karoi was foiled by an unseen ditch , which caused the plane to cartwheel and break up . Of the 52 passengers and four crew , 38 died in this crash ; ZIPRA cadres then approached the wreckage , rounded up the 10 survivors they could see and massacred them with automatic gunfire . Three passengers survived by hiding in the surrounding bush , while a further five lived because they had gone to look for water before the guerrillas arrived . ZIPRA leader Joshua Nkomo publicly claimed responsibility for shooting down the " Hunyani " on BBC television the same evening , saying the aircraft had been used for military purposes . He denied that his men had killed any survivors on the ground . The majority of Rhodesians , both black and white , saw the attack as an act of terrorism . A fierce white Rhodesian backlash followed against perceived enemies , with many whites becoming violently resentful and suspicious of blacks in general , even though few black Rhodesians supported attacks of this kind . Reports viewing the attack negatively appeared in international journals such as " Time magazine " magazine , but there was almost no acknowledgement of it by overseas governments , much to the Rhodesian government ' s indignation . Talks between Nkomo and Prime Minister Ian Smith , which had been progressing promisingly , were immediately suspended by the furious Rhodesians , with Smith calling Nkomo a " monster " . On 10 September , Smith announced the extension of martial law over selected areas . The Rhodesian Security Forces launched several retaliatory strikes into Zambia and Mozambique over the following months , attacking both ZIPRA and its rival , the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army . The attack on ZIPRA in particular brought great controversy as many of those killed were refugees camping in and around guerrilla positions . Five months later , in February 1979 , ZIPRA shot down Air Rhodesia Flight 827 , another civilian flight , in an almost identical incident . Background . A dispute over the terms for the granting of full sovereignty to the self - governing colony of Rhodesia led the colonial government , headed by Prime Minister Ian Smith , to unilaterally declare independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965 . The UK had recently adopted a policy of " no independence before majority rule " , and Rhodesia ' s government was dominated by the country ' s white minority , so the colonial declaration went unrecognised internationally . Britain and the United Nations imposed economic sanctions on Rhodesia . Two rival communist - backed black nationalist groups initiated military campaigns to overthrow the government and introduce majority rule : the Chinese - aligned Zimbabwe African National Union ( ZANU ) , mostly comprising Shona s , created the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army ( ZANLA ) and adopted aspects of Maoist doctrine , while the Ndebele - dominated Zimbabwe African People ' s Union ( ZAPU ) , aligned with Soviet - style Marxism – Leninism and the Warsaw Pact , mobilised the Zimbabwe People ' s Revolutionary Army ( ZIPRA ) . These guerrilla armies proceeded to wage what they called the " Second " Chimurenga " " against the Rhodesian government and security forces . The resulting conflict , the Rhodesian Bush War , began in earnest in December 1972 , when ZANLA attacked Altena and Whistlefield Farms in north - eastern Rhodesia . After the security forces mounted a successful counter - insurgency campaign during 1973 and 1974 , developments overseas caused the conflict ' s momentum to shift in the insurgents ' favour . The leftist Carnation Revolution of April 1974 caused Portugal to withdraw its key economic support for Smith ' s government ; the following year , Portugal ' s overseas province of Mozambique , on Rhodesia ' s eastern frontier , became an independent communist country , openly allied with ZANU . Around the same time , Rhodesia ' s other main backer , South Africa , adopted a détente initiative , forcing a ceasefire just as the security forces were pushing the guerrillas back . Following the abortive Victoria Falls Conference of August 1975 , Smith and the ZAPU leader Joshua Nkomo held unsuccessful talks between December 1975 and March 1976 . ZANU and ZAPU announced in October 1976 , during the run - up to the unsuccessful Geneva Conference in December , that they would henceforth attend conferences as a joint " Patriotic Front " . In March 1978 , Smith and non - militant nationalist groups headed by Bishop Abel Muzorewa , the Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole and Chief Jeremiah Chirau agreed what became the " Internal Settlement " . This created a joint black – white transitional government , with the country due to be reconstituted as Zimbabwe Rhodesia in June 1979 , pursuant to multiracial elections . ZANU and ZAPU were invited to participate , but refused ; Nkomo sardonically dubbed Smith ' s black colleagues " the blacksmiths " . ZANU proclaimed 1978 to be " The Year of the People " as the war continued . Officials from Muzorewa ' s United African National Council , sent to the provinces to explain the Internal Settlement to rural blacks , were killed by communist guerrillas . Cadres also began to target Christian missionaries , climaxing in the killing of nine British missionaries and four children at Elim Mission near the Mozambican border on 23 June . The transitional government was badly received abroad , partly because Rhodesian whites were determined to keep control of law enforcement and the military even following the introduction of black rule in parliament . No country — not even South Africa , despite its continued support — recognised Rhodesia ' s interim administration . Smith again worked to bring Nkomo into the government , hoping this would lend it some credence domestically , prompt diplomatic recognition overseas , and help the security forces defeat ZANLA . Starting on 14 August 1978 , he attended secret meetings with Nkomo in Lusaka , Zambia ( where ZAPU was based ) , doing so with the assistance of the mining corporation Lonrho . Attempts were made to also involve the ZANU leader Robert Mugabe , but Mugabe would have no part in the talks . According to South African military historian Jakkie Cilliers , negotiations between Smith and Nkomo progressed well and " seemed on the verge of success " by the start of September 1978 . On 2 September , Smith and Nkomo revealed publicly that the secret meetings had taken place . Incident . Prior threats to Rhodesian air traffic . Rhodesian air traffic was not seriously threatened until about 1977 , in the latter stages of the war ; before this time , neither revolutionary force had the weapons to launch a viable attack against an aerial target . The weapon that made such attacks feasible for ZIPRA was the Strela 2 shoulder - launched surface - to - air missile launcher , supplied by the Soviet Union from the mid - 1970s as part of the Warsaw Pact ' s materiel support . By September 1978 , there had been 20 reported attempts to shoot down Rhodesian military aircraft using these weapons , none of which had been successful . Some Rhodesian Air Force Dakota s had been hit , but all had survived and landed safely . No civilian aircraft had yet been targeted during the Bush War . Flight . Air Rhodesia was the country ' s national airline , established by the government on 1 September 1967 to succeed Central African Airways , which was dissolved at the end of that year . Based at Salisbury Airport , Air Rhodesia ' s flight network during the late 1970s comprised a domestic programme of passenger and cargo flights , as well as international services to the South African cities of Johannesburg and Durban . The Flight 825 aircraft was a Vickers Viscount 782D , a British - made turboprop aircraft with two engines on each wing . It was named the " Hunyani " after the river of the same name , which flowed between Lake Kariba and the Rhodesian capital Salisbury . The " Hunyani " was on the second and final leg of its regular scheduled journey between Victoria Falls and Salisbury , stopping over in the resort town of Kariba . Despite the occasional rocket and mortar attacks launched on Kariba by ZIPRA guerrillas on the northern side of the Zambezi ( in Zambia ) , the resort had endured as one of Rhodesia ' s choice tourist attractions . The flight on 3 September 1978 , Sunday afternoon , from Kariba to Salisbury carried four crew members and 52 passengers , most of whom were holidaymakers from Salisbury , returning home after a weekend at the lake . The flight took off from Kariba Airport on schedule soon after 17 : 00 Central Africa Time . Flight 825 was piloted by 36 - year - old Captain John Hood , a native of Bulawayo who had gained his commercial pilot licence in 1966 . He had flown Viscounts for Air Rhodesia since 1968 , and had also served in the Rhodesian Air Force on a voluntary basis . His first officer , Garth Beaumont , was 31 years old , and had lived in Rhodesia for most of his life , having immigrated as a child from South Africa . The two air stewardesses were Bulawayo - born Dulcie Esterhuizen , 21 , and 23 - year - old Louise Pearson , from Salisbury . Shootdown . A group of ZIPRA guerrillas , armed with a Strela 2 launcher , waited in the bush beneath Flight 825 ' s flightpath , and fired on the " Hunyani " about five minutes after it took off , while the aircraft was still in the climb phase of its flight . The heat - seeking missile hit the plane ' s starboard wing and exploded , causing the inner engine to also explode . A fuel tank and hydraulic lines ruptured , creating a fire that the passengers and crew could not put out . The second starboard engine failed almost immediately , leaving Hood with only his two port engines . Heaving wildly , the " Hunyani " began to descend rapidly . At 17 : 10 Captain Hood sent a distress call to air traffic control , informing them that he had lost the two starboard engines and was going to crash . " We ' re going in , " he radioed . Telling his passengers to brace for an emergency landing , he aimed for an open field of cotton in the Whamira Hills , in the bush to the west of Karoi , intending to belly land the craft . The landing was relatively stable until the " Hunyani " hit a previously unseen ditch , cartwheeled and exploded . The remaining fuel tanks ruptured and caught fire , setting the wrecked cabin ablaze . Massacre on the ground . Of the 56 people on board , 38 , including Hood and Beaumont , died in the crash . Eighteen survived , albeit with injuries , and climbed out of the wreckage . After briefly settling the others , one of the passengers , Dr Cecil MacLaren , led four others — young newlyweds Robert and Shannon Hargreaves , Mrs Sharon Coles , and her four - year - old daughter Tracey — off in the direction of a nearby village in the search of water . The other 13 remained close to the wreckage . Meanwhile , nine guerrillas made their way towards the crash site , and reached it at about 17 : 45 . Three of the 13 survivors remaining at the crash site hid on seeing figures approaching : Rhodesian Army reservist Anthony Hill , 39 , took cover in the bush surrounding the crash site , while businessman Hans Hansen and his wife Diana did the same . This left 10 passengers in full view near the wreckage , of whom six were women ( including two girls , aged 11 and 4 ) . The guerrillas , who were armed with AK - 47 assault rifles , presented themselves to the 10 passengers as friendly , saying they would summon help and bring water . They spoke in English , both to the survivors and amongst themselves . They told the passengers to congregate around a point a few metres from the wreckage ; when the survivors said that some of them were too badly injured to walk , the insurgents told the able - bodied men to carry the others . The passengers were assembled into an area of about . Standing roughly away , the cadres now raised their weapons . " You have taken our land , " one of them said . " Please don ' t shoot us ! " one of the passengers cried , just before they were killed by a sustained burst of automatic gunfire . Having collected water from the nearby village , MacLaren and his companions were almost back at the crash site when they heard the shots . Thinking it was personal ammunition in the luggage exploding in the heat , they continued on their way , and called out to the other passengers , who they thought were still alive . This alerted the insurgents to the presence of more survivors ; one of the guerrillas told MacLaren ' s group to " come here " . The insurgents then opened fire on their general location , prompting MacLaren and the others to flee . Hill and the Hansens also ran ; they revealed their positions to the fighters in their haste , but successfully hid themselves behind a ridge . After Hill and the others had hidden there for about two hours , they saw the cadres return to the crash site at about 19 : 45 . The guerrillas looted the wrecked cabin and some of the suitcases strewn around the site , filled their arms with various passengers ' belongings , then left again . The survivors were found over the following days by the Rhodesian Army and police ; Hill and Mr and Mrs Hansen were taken to Kariba Hospital , while MacLaren and his group were airlifted to Andrew Fleming Hospital in Salisbury . Nkomo claims responsibility , but denies killing survivors . Nkomo claimed responsibility for the attack in an interview with BBC television on the evening of 3 September 1978 , laughing as he did so , to the horror of most Rhodesian viewers , both black and white . He said that he had received intelligence that the " Hunyani " was being used for military purposes . Nkomo said he regretted the deaths as it was not his party ' s policy to kill civilians , and denied that his men had killed any survivors on the ground ; by contrast , he said that his men had helped them , and had left them alive . According to Eliakim Sibanda , a professor and human rights speaker who wrote a history of ZAPU , Nkomo was implying that responsibility for the massacre actually lay with security force pseudo - guerrillas , more specifically the mixed race Selous Scouts unit , which had been known to brutalise rural civilians with the goal of shifting public opinion . Sibanda blames the massacre on the Scouts , and also supports Nkomo ' s claim that the " Hunyani " had been used militarily , suggesting that ZIPRA might have believed there were Rhodesian soldiers on board : " Rhodesian television , before attacks on ZANLA in Mozambique , had shown Viscounts ferrying paratroopers for the job , " he writes , " . . . [ and ] ZIPRA intelligence knew there were paratroopers stationed [ at Victoria Falls ] " . Reactions . Rhodesian whites turn against blacks . A report published in the American magazine " Time magazine " a fortnight later described the incident as " a genuine horror story , calculated to make the most alarming of Rhodesian doomsday prophecies seem true . " Indeed , the white community in Rhodesia heard the news with caustic fury , and many turned their minds to exacting retribution for what they and many others saw as an act of terrorism . Though Rhodesian authorities did not immediately acknowledge the cause of the crash , doing so only after four days ' investigation , the truth was common knowledge in Salisbury within hours . Smith wrote in his memoirs that the " degree of anger . . . [ was ] difficult to control " . South African whites were also enraged , particularly after reports appeared in the South African press that the cadres had raped the female passengers before massacring them . A Friends of Rhodesia Society in South Africa offered a reward of R 100 , 000 to anybody who would either kill Nkomo or bring him to Salisbury to stand trial . Geoffrey Nyarota , who was then one of the few black reporters at the " Rhodesia Herald " newspaper , says that many whites became resentful and wary towards blacks in general , believing them all to be " terrorist sympathisers " . Describing the " Herald " newsroom the night of the incident , he writes of the " vile collective temper " amongst the white sub - editors : " They cursed until their voices became hoarse , threatening dire consequences for all " terrs " and " munts " or " kaffirs " . . . I sensed that some of the more derogatory remarks made in unnecessarily loud voices that evening were meant specifically for my ears . " Several racially motivated incidents occurred over the following days ; according to the " Time " article , a group of whites entered an unsegregated Salisbury bar " fingering the triggers of rifles " , and forced blacks drinking there to leave . " Time " also reported a rumour that two white youths , on learning of the massacre , shot the first black man they saw . Smith says that several would - be vigilante groups sought his permission to venture into the bush around the crash site to " make the local people pay for their crime of harbouring and assisting the terrorists " . He writes that he instructed them not to , telling them that many rural blacks only assisted the guerrillas under extreme duress , and that it would not do to attack them . Many Rhodesians also resented the apparent lack of sympathy emanating from overseas governments , especially considering the character of the attack and its civilian target . Memorial service , 8 September 1978 . At a memorial service held on 8 September 1978 for Flight 825 ' s passengers and crew at Salisbury ' s Anglican Cathedral , about 2 , 000 people crowded inside , with another 500 standing outside on the steps and pavement , many listening to the service inside on portable radio sets . Prominent amongst those present in the cathedral were uniformed Air Rhodesia and South African Airways personnel , as well as Rhodesian Special Air Service soldiers and senior officers from other military units . Smith and several government ministers also attended , including P K van der Byl , the co - minister of foreign affairs . Dean John de Costa gave a sermon damning what he described as a " deafening silence " from overseas . " Nobody who holds sacred the dignity of human life can be anything but sickened at the events attending the Viscount , " he said . " But are we deafened with the voice of protest from nations who call themselves civilised ? We are not ! Like men in the story of the Good Samaritan , they pass by on the other side . . . The ghastliness of this ill - fated flight from Kariba will be burnt upon our memories for years to come . For others , far from our borders , it is an intellectual matter , not one which affects them deeply . Here is the tragedy ! " Smith – Nkomo talks halted . The talks between Smith and the ZAPU leader that had been progressing so promisingly were immediately halted by Salisbury . Smith himself called Nkomo a " monster " . Cilliers comments that the ending of the Smith – Nkomo talks at this time was " potentially the most serious result of the Viscount massacre " , as the talks had been progressing well before the incident . He surmises that an agreement between the two " at this critical stage " might have helped the transitional Rhodesian government to secure international recognition . On 10 September , the Prime Minister announced to the nation that certain areas of the country would be placed under a variation of martial law , which he said would be applied in particular regions as and when needed . He declared Rhodesia ' s intent to " liquidate the internal workings of those organisations associated with terrorism " , and warned neighbouring countries to prepare for " any defensive strikes we might undertake " against guerrilla bases in their respective territories . He claimed that the war had escalated because Britain and the United States were supporting the Patriotic Front . Rhodesia strikes back . Operation " Snoopy " ; Rhodesia hits New Chimoio . Because ZAPU and ZIPRA were based in Zambia , many Rhodesian civilians clamoured for a massive retaliatory strike against cadres in that country , but the first external target hit by the security forces following the Viscount shootdown was the prominent cluster of ZANLA bases around Chimoio in Mozambique . The Rhodesian military had struck these bases extensively in November 1977 during Operation " Dingo " , destroying much of the ZANLA presence there , but the insurgents had since built a complex called " New Chimoio " , slightly to the east ; the new camps were distributed across a far larger area than the originals . In a combined airborne - ground assault called Operation " Snoopy " , the Rhodesian Air Force , Rhodesian Light Infantry and Special Air Service wiped out much of New Chimoio on 20 September 1978 . Mozambique sent armour to ZANLA ' s aid in the form of nine Soviet - made T - 54 tanks and four Russian armoured cars , but the former were routed and the latter destroyed by the Rhodesian security forces . According to Rhodesian figures , there were " several hundred " guerrillas killed , while the security forces lost only two soldiers , one of whom was accidentally killed by a friendly air strike . Operation " Gatling " ; the " Green Leader " raid . Rhodesia then attacked ZIPRA ' s bases in Zambia , in what Peter Petter - Bowyer , a former Rhodesian Air Force pilot , writes was " payback time " for Flight 825 . Operation " Gatling " , launched on 19 October 1978 , was another joint - force operation between the Air Force and the Army , which contributed Special Air Service and Rhodesian Light Infantry paratroopers . " Gatling " ' s primary target was the previously white - owned Westlands Farm , just north - east of central Lusaka ; rechristened " Freedom Camp " , it had become ZIPRA ' s military headquarters and main training base . ZIPRA presumed that because the camp was so close to Lusaka , Rhodesia would never dare to attack it . About 4 , 000 guerrillas underwent training at Freedom Camp , with senior ZIPRA staff also on site . Rhodesia ' s other targets were Chikumbi , north of Lusaka , and Mkushi Camp ; all three were to be attacked more or less simultaneously in a coordinated sweep across Zambia . The assault on targets deep inside Zambia was a first for the Rhodesian forces ; previously only guerrillas near the border had been attacked . Led by Squadron Leader Chris Dixon , who identified himself to Lusaka Airport tower as " Green Leader " , the Rhodesian Air Force took control of the airspace over Zambia during the raid , informing the Zambian Air Force that the attack was against " Rhodesian dissidents , and not against Zambia " , and that Rhodesian Hawker Hunter s were circling the Zambian airfields under orders to shoot down any fighter that attempted to take off . The Rhodesian Air Force proceeded to use a Zambian airstrip , Rufansa , as a forward base . During the three - day assault , the Rhodesian military suffered only minor casualties , and afterwards claimed to have killed over 1 , 500 ZIPRA personnel , as well as some Cuban instructors . Historians Paul Moorcraft and Peter McLaughlin write that this exaggerated considerably the actual number of guerrillas killed , as most of Nkomo ' s army , then numbering about 10 , 000 fighters , had not been touched . On the other hand , unarmed refugees often camped in or around insurgent positions , and hundreds of these had been killed in the Rhodesian raid . Moorcraft and McLaughlin comment that for the Rhodesian airmen , it would have been " impossible to distinguish innocent refugees from young ZIPRA recruits . " Sibanda describes Freedom Camp as " a refugee camp for boys " , and says " 351 boys and girls " were killed . He writes that the Red Cross and the UN Refugee Agency " confirmed ZAPU ' s claim that Smith ' s forces struck at defenseless , civilian trainees " . Aftermath and memorial . The Rhodesian attacks on ZANLA and ZIPRA bases did much to restore white morale following the Viscount incident , though they had not actually made much impact on the respective communist campaigns . Nkomo and the Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda all the same requested further military aid and better weapons from the Soviets and the British respectively . Martial law was quickly extended across Rhodesia ' s rural areas , and covered three quarters of the country by the end of 1978 . Air Rhodesia , meanwhile , began developing shielding for its Viscounts . Before this work was completed , ZIPRA shot down a second Viscount , Air Rhodesia Flight 827 , on 12 February 1979 . This time there were no survivors . Following the second shootdown , Air Rhodesia created a system whereby the underside of the Viscounts would be coated with paint , with the exhaust pipes concurrently shrouded . According to tests conducted by the Air Force , a Viscount so treated could not be detected by the Strela ' s targeting system once it was over . There were no further Viscount shootdowns in Rhodesia . In the elections held the following year under the Internal Settlement terms , boycotted by ZANU and ZAPU , Muzorewa won a majority , and became the first Prime Minister of the reconstituted , state of Zimbabwe Rhodesia on 1 June 1979 . In December that year , the Lancaster House Agreement was agreed in London by Salisbury , the British government and the Patriotic Front , returning the country to its former colonial status . The UK government suspended the constitution and took direct control for an interim period . Fresh elections were won by Mugabe , who took power in April 1980 , concurrently with the country ' s recognised independence as Zimbabwe . A memorial to the victims of both Rhodesian Viscount incidents was erected on the grounds of the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria , South Africa in 2012 . Dubbed the Viscount Memorial , it was inaugurated on 2 September that year . The names of the dead passengers and crew are engraved on two granite slabs that stand upright , side by side , the pair topped by an emblem symbolising an aircraft . A pole beside the memorial flies the Rhodesian flag . Notes and references . Notes References Newspaper and journal articles Bibliography