On 13 September 1997, a

German Air Force The German Air Force (german: Luftwaffe, lit=air weapon or air arm, ) is the aerial warfare branch of the , the armed forces of Germany. The German Air Force (as part of the ''Bundeswehr'') was founded in 1956 during the era of the Cold War as ...

Tupolev Tu-154M The Tupolev Tu-154 (russian: Tyполев Ту-154; NATO reporting name: "Careless") is a three-engined, medium-range, narrow-body airliner designed in the mid-1960s and manufactured by Tupolev. A workhorse of Soviet and (subsequently) Russia ...

observation aircraft and a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army S ...

C-141B Starlifter transport aircraft were destroyed in a

mid-air collision In aviation, a mid-air collision is an accident in which two or more aircraft come into unplanned contact during flight. Owing to the relatively high velocities involved and the likelihood of subsequent impact with the ground or sea, very sever ...

while cruising at off the coast of

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and e ...

. All 33 people on board both aircraft were killed. At the time of the collision, the Tupolev was flying on a southerly route from

Niamey Niamey () is the capital and largest city of Niger. Niamey lies on the Niger River, primarily situated on the east bank. Niamey's population was counted as 1,026,848 as of the 2012 census. As of 2017, population projections show the capital di ...

, Niger, to

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second larges ...

, South Africa, while the C-141 was heading northwest from

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 20 ...

, Namibia, to

Ascension Island Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overseas Territory o ...

. Neither aircraft was equipped with TCAS collision avoidance systems, and although both crews had filed a

flight plan Flight plans are documents filed by a pilot or flight dispatcher with the local Air Navigation Service Provider (e.g. the FAA in the United States) prior to departure which indicate the plane's planned route or flight path. Flight plan form ...

, the German aircraft was not in contact with Namibian

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airsp ...

and controllers were unaware of its presence in Namibian airspace. Furthermore, the Tupolev was flying at the wrong altitude, according to its flight plan and to the semicircular rule. The subsequent US Air Force inquiry concluded that the German crew was responsible for the accident, citing

pilot error Pilot error generally refers to an accident in which an action or decision made by the pilot was the cause or a contributing factor that led to the accident, but also includes the pilot's failure to make a correct decision or take proper ac ...

and inadequate air traffic control that contributed to the fatal lack of

separation Separation may refer to: Films * ''Separation'' (1967 film), a British feature film written by and starring Jane Arden and directed by Jack Bond * ''La Séparation'', 1994 French film * ''A Separation'', 2011 Iranian film * ''Separation'' (20 ...

. A year before the accident, the International Federation of Airline Pilots' Associations had stated that from a safety point of view, 75 percent of African airspace was "critically deficient."

Aircraft and crew

The

Lockheed C-141 Starlifter The Lockheed C-141 Starlifter is a retired military strategic airlifter that served with the Military Air Transport Service (MATS), its successor organization the Military Airlift Command (MAC), and finally the Air Mobility Command (AMC) of th ...

was a four-engine

strategic airlifter An airlift is the organized delivery of supplies or personnel primarily via military transport aircraft. Airlifting consists of two distinct types: strategic and tactical. Typically, strategic airlifting involves moving material long distance ...

in service with the US Air Force. The example involved in the accident, a C-141B variant, tail number 65-9405, was assigned to the

305th Air Mobility Wing The 305th Air Mobility Wing is a United States Air Force strategic airlift and air refueling wing under the operational control of the Air Mobility Command. It generates, mobilizes and deploys C-17 Globemaster III and KC-10 Extender aircraft. T ...

based at

McGuire Air Force Base McGuire AFB/McGuire, the common name of the McGuire unit of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, is a United States Air Force base in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States, approximately south-southeast of Trenton. McGuire is under the j ...

, New Jersey. At the time it was conducting a humanitarian flight to Namibia, delivering a mine-clearing team for the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

. The aircraft, using the

callsign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a Identifier, unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be form ...

REACH 4201, was under the command of Captain Peter Vallejo, 34, with Captain Jason Ramsey, 27, and Captain Gregory M. Cindrich, 31, acting as pilots. Six other personnel were on board as well, including a crew chief, two

flight engineer A flight engineer (FE), also sometimes called an air engineer, is the member of an aircraft's flight crew who monitors and operates its complex aircraft systems. In the early era of aviation, the position was sometimes referred to as the "air ...

s, and two

loadmaster A loadmaster is an aircrew member on civilian aircraft or military transport aircraft tasked with the safe loading, transport and unloading of aerial cargoes. Loadmasters serve in the militaries and civilian airlines of many nations. Duties ...

s. The

involved, tail number , was one of two in the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

inventory, both inherited from the

East German Air Force The Air Forces of the National People's Army (german: Luftstreitkräfte der Nationalen Volksarmee; LSK) was the Air Force of East Germany. As with the , the , and the Border Troops, it was a military branch of the National People's Army (NVA ...

. Assigned to , it had previously been used for verification purposes under the

Open Skies Treaty The Treaty on Open Skies establishes a program of unarmed aerial surveillance flights over the entire territory of its participants. The treaty is designed to enhance mutual understanding and confidence by giving all participants, regardles ...

. As such it was equipped with cameras and sensors in the fuselage.Brochure "Open Skies, German Observation System" of the Federal Armed Forces Verification Center, 52503 Geilenkirchen The aircraft was manned by a crew of 10 and was flying 14 passengers, which included 12 German marines and two of their spouses from

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

, Germany, to

, South Africa, for a regatta celebrating the 75th anniversary of the South African Navy. The pilots, both experienced, were Ralph Reinhold and Klaus Ehrlichmann. Flying under the callsign GAF 074, the aircraft had made a stopover in

and was due to land in

for another refueling stop before continuing on to Cape Town.

Flight and collision

Flight paths

The

Tu-154M The Tupolev Tu-154 (russian: Tyполев Ту-154; NATO reporting name: "Careless") is a three-engined, medium-range, narrow-body airliner designed in the mid-1960s and manufactured by Tupolev. A workhorse of Soviet and (subsequently) Russia ...

departed

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, on 13 September 1997 and landed in

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesUTC, GAF 074 departed Niamey and began flying on a southerly track. While flying through

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...

ese airspace, GAF 074 received a slight reroute. The aircraft changed altitude as it passed western

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and turned in an easterly direction, in compliance with airway requirements. At 14:11 UTC, the

C-141B departed from

, for

, a British territory in the

South Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

. Per REACH 4201's filed flight plan it was flying on a northwesterly track at a cruise altitude of 35,000 feet.

Visual meteorological conditions In aviation, visual meteorological conditions (VMC) is an aviation flight category in which visual flight rules (VFR) flight is permitted—that is, conditions in which pilots have sufficient visibility to fly the aircraft maintaining visual se ...

prevailed at the time of the aircraft's departure.

Air traffic control

In 1996, the International Federation of Airline Pilots' Associations (IFAPA) labeled 75% of African airspace as "critically deficient." due to safety concerns and poor air traffic control service. The situation was so severe that in the same year, South African airline pilots reported more than 70 near-misses while flying in the African continent. The C-141B was under the control of

n air traffic control upon taking off from

. Namibian controllers had not received a flight plan or a departure signal from the Tu-154M and were not aware that the German aircraft had entered its

flight information region In aviation, a flight information region (FIR) is a specified region of airspace in which a flight information service and an alerting service (ALRS) are provided. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) delegates which country is r ...

. The last agency to have contact with the German aircraft was Accra air traffic control. Air traffic control authorities in

Luanda Luanda () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major Angola#Economy, industrial, Angola#Culture, cultural and Angola#Demographics, urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atl ...

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

, had not contacted Namibian controllers to inform them of the aircraft's presence as required under

ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international ...

regulations. The Tu-154M had changed altitude during its flight without the controllers' knowledge. Contributing to the communications breakdowns, the

Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunication Network The Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunications Network (AFTN) is a worldwide system of aeronautical fixed circuits provided, as part of the Aeronautical Fixed Service, for the exchange of messages and/or digital data between aeronautical fixed stations ...

, a system that facilitates the exchange of messages between air controllers was not working at the time. The air traffic control center in Windhoek received the last communication from the C-141B crew via high-frequency radio, who stated they were level at 35,000 feet.

Collision

At 15:10 hours UTC, off the coast of Namibia, the two aircraft collided. The Tu-154M struck the C-141B in the lower fuselage, causing an explosion that was observed as a bright flash by a US surveillance satellite overflying the area. Cockpit voice recordings show that at least one crew member in the Tu-154M noticed the C-141B and had attempted to maneuver away, unsuccessfully. A transcript from the CVR shows that the American crew were not killed on impact. One of the pilots can be heard saying, "oxygen mask, get them on, get them on. Get the flashlights quick." In addition, a nearby

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Ar ...

aircraft reported that it picked up one "

mayday Mayday is an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice-procedure radio communications. It is used to signal a life-threatening emergency primarily by aviators and mariners, but in some countries local organi ...

" distress call. Both aircraft crashed into the sea, ultimately killing all 33 passengers and crew aboard both airplanes.

Search and recovery

ATC authorities in

attempted fifty times to contact aviation authorities in

when the C-141B did not arrive as scheduled. At 10:55 UTC the following day, Ascension ATC contacted

Air Mobility Command Air Mobility Command (AMC) is a major command (MAJCOM) of the U.S. Air Force. It is headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, east of St. Louis, Missouri. Air Mobility Command was established on 1 June 1992, and was formed from eleme ...

and notified them of the overdue aircraft. At 11:00 UTC, the aircraft was declared missing. An international search effort by the United States, France, Great Britain, Germany, and several African countries ensued, scouring the seas off Namibia for any signs of wreckage. A French aircraft flying over the apparent crash site picked up a faint signal from one of the aircraft's emergency beacons. The

South African Air Force "Through hardships to the stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment ...

stated it had received a signal from a life jacket emergency beacon, raising the hope of finding survivors. A mid-air collision was presumed to be the most likely scenario since both aircraft had gone missing at the same time in virtually the same location. The first pieces of wreckage were found by a search ship in 16 September. Six days after the crash, authorities announced they had found the body of 43 year old German flight attendant Saskia Neumeyer, the first body to be recovered. By December 1997, very few remnants of the crash had been discovered. The body of Saskia Neumeyer had been the only one of the 33 missing passengers and crew to be recovered and very little of the wreckage had been found. A fishing trawler discovered several pieces of clothing on 13 December from a depth of 655 meters. The remains of Captain Peter Vallejo and Captain Jason Ramsey were located by divers later in December 1997 along with unidentifiable skeletal remains of other crewmembers. They were buried on 2 April 1998 in

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

Investigation and aftermath

In 1997, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

Air Force appointed Colonel William H. C. Schell Jr. to lead the investigation into the collision. A final report with the board's conclusions was released in March 1998. The investigation blamed primarily the German crew, who were cruising at 35,000 feet in breach of the semicircular rule, which states that an aircraft heading in a southeasterly direction must fly at an altitude of either . The

also acknowledged that its aircraft was at fault in the crash in its own investigative report. In addition the report cited systemic problems in Africa's air traffic control system as contributing factors to the accident, blaming faulty communications equipment that prevented the German aircraft's flight plan from being transmitted through the proper channels and negligent controllers in

who failed to pass on the aircraft's position to Namibian ATC. Another substantially contributing factor was the complicated and sporadic operation of the Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunications Network (AFTN). The report stated that if either aircraft had been equipped with a TCAS it is highly likely the crash could have been avoided, reading, "the presence of a fully operational TCAS on either aircraft could have prevented the accident." One day before the release of the report,

Secretary of Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

William S. Cohen announced that the military would begin the installation of TCAS on its aircraft. The lack of a TCAS on the German aircraft brought considerable pressure on Germany's

Federal Ministry of Defence The Federal Ministry of Defence (german: Bundesministerium der Verteidigung, ), abbreviated BMVg, is a top-level federal agency, headed by the Federal Minister of Defence as a member of the Cabinet of Germany. The ministry is headquartered at ...

to install collision avoidance systems on its aircraft. Despite being listed on the Project Objective Memorandum of the C-141B for five years, installation of the TCAS began on a small number of the aircraft soon after the crash.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Namibia mid-air collision, 1997 1997 in Namibia Aviation accidents and incidents caused by air traffic controller error Aviation accidents and incidents in 1997 Aviation accidents and incidents in Namibia Mid-air collisions Aviation accidents and incidents in Africa Mid-air collisions involving military aircraft Accidents and incidents involving the Tupolev Tu-154 September 1997 events in Africa 1997 disasters in Namibia