Plane SNAPS in half over the ocean | The REAL story of South African 295

Grab Atlas VPN for just $1.99/mo before the deal expires: get.atlasvpn.com/GreenDotAviation You can also support the channel in a big way by joining the Patreon, where you get early access to future videos ✈www.patreon.com/GreenDotAviation

After nearly a decade, I’ve accidentally found myself back in my plane crash documentary phase

I was a schoolboy in South Africa when this flight went down. One of the girls in my class lost both her parents who were onboard returning from a holiday in Taiwan. I can remember very clearly when they called her out of class and later the teachers told us what had happened. I've remained fascinated with this story ever since and have read many different theories and accounts of what happened. Thank you for adding your video to this list. I think the families of those onboard deserve an honest answer from the South African government about what happened. Unfortunately I think the former government was too good at destroying evidence.

My uncle, one of the Taiwanese, was on that plane with his newly-wed. They went to South Africa for a promising future when I was 3 years old. As I remember, he gave me a toy horse as a farewell gifts before his departure. Unfortunately, both of them were killed in this crash, which leaves a great mourning in my whole family. What a great loss. May God be with all the passengers and crew members.

Several of the cabin and cockpit crew were known to me. During my time working as cabin crew in the '70s we were aware of 'cargo' belonging to the military being carried. I think it was never really questioned during this time. The incident haunted me for many years.

'Just like a jigsaw, when a piece is missing, you can still see its shape in the space it leaves behind' - gripping stuff amigo!

My father worked as a Flight Engineer for SAA starting in the late 80's (when this happened). He knew a pilot in SAA (I forget his name but I can always ask my Dad again) who began conducting his own private investigation into what happened. Basically he was snooping around and trying to piece together what really took place. One day he received an anonymous letter that warned him to cease his investigation, and if not, him and his family would be in danger. The guy stopped after that and never found out who sent the letter. The overwhelming opinion amongst members of SAA was that there was a coverup and weapons were being transported as this video rightly suggests. Thought you'd all find this bit of info interesting! Edit: 10 month update... Still alive. Edit: 12 month update. Recently met the South African president at a work conference event thing. He had NO idea who I was. So obviously he's ill-informed of my YouTube fame! I mean really!! Oh and also I'm still alive... for now. But will I be next month? Who knows!

Hearing the dead silence of the cabin and the breakers popping in the background has to be one of the most terrifying sounds you'd hear as a pilot - or in general, really.

My dad travelled SAA every week JHB to Cape Town. Am trying to remember what he said to me about what he was told. A fire had broken out near Malaysia somewhere and one of the pilots wanted to land somewhere in India. The crew were overruled by some government official in JHB and told to fly on to Mauritius, where they would not have to reveal their cargo. The first fire had used all the firefighting equipment and extinguishers, so when the second fire broke out there were no extinguishers left. Also there was a graphite tennis racket which washed up on the beach in Mauritius and ( I don’t know the exact figures and details ) but graphite only burns at over 2000 degrees C. Point I am trying to make is the fire was very intense and very hot. My dad heard that it was probably rocket fuel, which is very volatile when being bounced around in a aircraft carrier for some long. I do wish that someone would open up this investigation again, as there are not many people alive who would have answers to a comprehensive inquiry and to answer the main questions. Hope to hear from anybody/anyone with their ideas.

Planes crashes are already scary but the fact it a night crash and over the ocean makes it 100000 times more terrifying

A major in flight fire would be absolutely terrifying. I'd rather be on a plane with all engines failed than a plane being consumed by a major fire

This is unsurvivable, the pilots were extremely competent, but the fire was unstoppable.

As someone with a bit of chemistry background, the "supplied its own oxygen supply" sounds pretty much like an oxidizer. Oxidizers are very common in military materials, and the most common oxidizers are sodium perchlorate, sodium nitrate, and (to a lesser extent) hydrogen peroxide. Working in a chem lab, one of the BIGGEST rules is to store oxidizers far, far away from flammables. That's because it really doesn't take much to initiate a chain reaction and produce a sudden explosion. With that in mind, it's possible and number of munitions were stored together improperly --batteries and corrosives, flares and pyrotechnics, honestly your options are nearly infinite. Less important than what actually is stored on these flights is the demonstration WHY this is a terrifying, idiotic choice made by an authoritarian regime with little respect for human life.

This was the most tense story I’ve ever seen, and to think this actually happened. Rest in peace for all in this crash.

I love your videos! My Grandfather was a Cathay Pacific Pilot In the 70s. and one day he was going to fly flight 700Z. however at the last minute he had to swap with his other pilot friend. flight 700Z was hijacked and was blown up by a bomb somebody had taken aboard. everybody died. My grandfather is very lucky! he is 83 years old and living well.

Greetings from South Africa. I was a travel agent at the time so had lots of contacts within the industry. SAA had an excellent safety record and pilots/engineers plus ground staff were highly respected for their work ethic. There was no way the cause of the accident was 'pilot error'. All of us in the industry knew the cause was the hazadous cargo the plane was carrying. The plane blew up mid air. It was over 30 yrs ago this disaster happened and I can not for the life of me remember what the cargo was, but I do remember it was of chemical content. The senseless loss of life due to authorative interference is horrendous.

I worked for Armscor that time and manufacturing rockets with solid fuel. In the mean time we imported Ammonium Perchlorate from Japan secretly as we were heavily sanctioned. This 747 was a Combi with half back as cargo. Ammonium Perchlorate is a strong oxidizer and burns well above 3000 deg C. This was in the cargo and the pilots unaware of it. It caught fire and while burning giving off oxygen so impossible to extinguish. And that was the reason. Cheers from South Africa

I had Captain Uys as a pilot on a number of flights between Johannesburg and Cape Town in the 70s. He had a great personality and kept up chatter throughout those flights. I was shocked to learn he was the pilot on this flight. I think he would have done his best to save lives if he could have.

My neighbour's dad was part of the cabin crew on the Helderberg when it went down, And although I lost touch with him when we moved overseas, every news article I read about Fl.295, to this day I still feel a helpless sadness at the heartache the surviving families continue to live. There can be no excuse for people to keep secrets about why someone has to grow up without a Dad, or stand at the watery grave of a child or loved-one. RIP.

Wow, I've watched several versions of this incident. You're the only one who goes deep to expose the real circumstances surrounding the crashes. I pity the innocent passengers who lost their lives. It's ironical the pilots feared losing their jobs if the illegal consignment was caught. However they paid for this with their own lives.