1986 Mozambican Tupolev
Tu-134 crash Killing Mozambican
president Samora
Machel and 43 other occupants
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Mozambican Presidential Jet

Accident summary

Date
October 19, 1986

Type
Controlled flight into terrain

Site
Mbuzini, Lebombo Mountains, South
Africa
25°54′58″S 31°57′19″E / 25.91611°S 31.95528°E / -25.91611; 31.95528Coordinates: 25°54′58″S 31°57′19″E / 25.91611°S 31.95528°E / -25.91611; 31.95528

Passengers
35[1]

Crew
9[1]

Fatalities
34[1]

Survivors
10[1]

Aircraft type
Tupolev Tu-134A-3

Operator
Mozambique Air

Tail number
C9-CAA

Flight origin
Maputo, Mozambique

Last stopover
Mbala
Airport (MMQ),[1]
Zambia

Destination
Maputo International Airport (MPM), Mozambique

The Mozambican presidential Tupolev Tu-134A-3 aircraft crashed just inside South African territory on October 19, 1986. The
aircraft was carrying Mozambican president Samora
Machel and 43 other occupants on a flight from Mbala
in Zambia
to the Mozambican capital Maputo when it crashed 35 nm
(65 km) west of its destination at Mbuzini
in the Lebombo Mountains.[2]
Nine passengers and one crew member survived the crash, but President
Machel and 33 others died, including ministers and officials of the
Mozambique government.

While there was widespread suspicion—both nationally and
internationally[2]—that
the South African government was implicated in the crash, no conclusive
evidence to this effect has emerged.

Contents
[hide]

• 1 Political background
  • 1.1 1984
  • 1.2 1986
• 2 Return flight
  • 2.1 A 37º turn
  • 2.2 Disorientation and
    confusion
  • 2.3 Descent and impact
• 3 Investigations
  • 3.1 South African
    response
  • 3.2 On site
    investigation
  • 3.3 South African
    investigation
  • 3.4 Joint investigations
  • 3.5 Margo Commission
    • 3.5.1 Findings
    • 3.5.2 Claims of a decoy
      beacon
• 4 Other investigations
  • 4.1 Soviet report
  • 4.2 Independent
    Mozambican investigation
  • 4.3 TRC report 2001
  • 4.4 Confession by Hans
    Louw
  • 4.5 2006 inquiry
• 5 Aftermath
  • 5.1 1996 Anniversary
  • 5.2 1999 monument
  • 5.3 2006 anniversary
  • 5.4 Nelson Mandela's and
    Graça Machel's accusations
  • 5.5 Economic impact
  • 5.6 Fiction
• 6 References
• 7 Further reading and
  external links

//
[edit] Political background
[edit] 1984

South Africa's State Security Council (SSC) meeting in January 1984 minuted a
discussion of their Mozambican working group, which included General
Jac Buchner and Major Craig Williamson, where assistance to RENAMO was
discussed as a means of overthrowing the FRELIMO
government of Mozambique. The TRC
later included this minute as circumstantial evidence in their
inconclusive report.[3]

On March 16, 1984, the Nkomati Accord was signed at Komatipoort
between South Africa and Mozambique. A clause in this agreement
prohibited support of third-party resistance groups. In his commentary
on the accord, South African foreign minister Pik
Botha admitted in an SABC television
interview that South Africa had offered limited support to RENAMO in the
past.

[edit] 1986

On October 7, 1986 Mozambique was sharply criticised by South African
general Magnus Malan for allegedly allowing terrorists
to enter South Africa from its territory.[4]
The Frontline States convened an emergency
meeting in Maputo on October 12, to address an incursion of Renamo
operatives from Malawi. South Africa and Malawi's Banda were denounced as waging a terrorist campaign against
Mozambique. Malan replied on October 15 by warning the Front Line
leaders that they would share the consequences of ANC terrorist attacks.[5]
Mozambique later cited Malan's remarks as evidence to implicate South
Africa in the air crash.[6]

A former military intelligence (MI) officer "Ben" alleged at the 1998
TRC
hearings that Pik Botha and a number of high-ranking security
officials met on October 18, 1986 at Skwamans, a secret security police
base shared with MI operatives halfway between Mbuzini and Komatipoort.
He said the meeting broke up later that day and Botha departed in a
small aircraft.[3]

On Sunday, October 19, three Front Line leaders, Machel, Kenneth Kaunda and Eduardo dos Santos met at Mbala,
Zambia, to confront Zairian president Mobutu Sésé Seko concerning his channeling of funds to UNITA, which
was in alliance with South Africa.[5]

[edit] Return flight

On the afternoon of October 19, 1986, President Samora
Machel returned from the Zambian
meeting on the presidential Tupolev Tu-134A aircraft, a personal gift from the
Soviets.[2]
The aircraft, with registration number C9-CAA, was approaching Maputo in
the first hour after sunset and the flight crew were in relaxed
discussion with one another, as revealed by the cockpit voice recorder.

[edit] A 37º turn

Maputo

Crash Site

Crash site near the converging borders of
Mozambique, Swaziland and South Africa

Around 19:10, 11 minutes prior to impact, at a height of 19,000 feet
(5,800 m) the presidential aircraft made a 37º turn to the right, and
headed in the wrong direction of Matsapa airfield, Swaziland.[3][7][8][9][10]
The navigation facility for this turn was never determined. Nor did the
crew identify the facility to one another or to Maputo air traffic control. Rather than continuing over
the Mozambican plain to Maputo’s airport near sea
level, C9-CAA then headed towards the Lebombo Mountains region on the South African border.

The Soviet investigation team would later offer this
deviation as evidence that the crew were led astray by a possible
‘decoy navigation beacon’.[3][7]
The Mozambican investigation team then suggested a temporary South
African military camp, 150m from the crash site, as the likely source
and claimed there was an electrical generator present. South
Africa in turn identified the tents in question as a volleyball facility
for soldiers.[7]

[edit] Disorientation
and confusion

Maputo air traffic control was said[7][11]
to have cleared the aircraft for a descent to 3,000 ft, the published safe altitude for approaches to
Maputo.[10]
While descending the pilot, Yuri Novodran, was determined (by the South
African-appointed Margo Commission) to have taken a rigid view as to
the location of the airport and declined the indirect approach suggested by his crew.

Novodran, unable to discern the runway lights at Maputo International Airport,
decided they were not switched on and informed the air traffic
controller: "Check your runway lights". The controller apparently
misinterpreted this as "I check your lights" or "I see you",[7]
and continued to clear the aircraft for landing. The Margo Commission
concluded this was another alleged instance of pilot error.[citation needed]

[edit] Descent and impact

At 19:19:55, 1:45 minutes before impact, the aircraft descended to
under 3,000 feet (910 m). The Margo Commission concluded this was before
clearance for landing was received. The aircraft continued to descend
at regular intervals, at an average rate of 8 feet a second, for a
direct approach to the runway without visual contact.[2]
The ground
proximity warning system was activated, and sounded for 32 seconds,
but was ignored by the crew. Believing themselves to be over the
Mozambican plain, the descent continued with landing
gear and flaps still retracted.[2][10]
The Soviet investigation team later declared the crew's disregarding of
the alarm as reasonable.[citation needed]

At 19:21:39, the aircraft made controlled impact in hilly
terrain at 230 knots (430 km/h), at an altitude of 2,187 feet (667 m)
a.s.l. and 150m into South African territory.[2]
The point of impact is near the hamlet of Mbuzini in the Lebombo Mountains. The first witnesses at the crash scene
were reported[who?] to have been
Mozambican soldiers. Captain Marques’s Boeing C9-BAA which approached
Maputo 14 minutes behind C9-CAA, apparently encountered no confusing radio beacon.[7]

According to the next day’s SABC news report,
and based on injuries sustained,[5]
president Machel died instantly when the aircraft crashed. Besides
Machel, his private secretary Muradali, possible successor Fernando
Honwana, transport minister Alcantara Santos, marxist scholar and
diplomat Aquino de Bragança and photo-journalist Daniel Maquinasse were
among the dead.[5]
In all, thirty-four occupants died while 10 survived.

[edit] Investigations
[edit] South African response

A Tupolev Tu-134

South Africa’s minister of Law and Order, Louis la Grange, contacted
South African foreign minister, Pik Botha, at 4:30 on October 20, 1986
to inform him of the crash. A Beeld
newspaper report, however, claimed it was the SAP.

La Grange revealed that ‘30 to 40 persons’ may have died which may
include president Samora Machel and suggested ‘very sensitive handling’
of the situation. Pik Botha relayed the information to State President P.W. Botha and together they decided that Pik Botha
should visit the scene as a matter of urgency.

In accordance with the South African Air Control Act, aircraft
accidents are required to be investigated by the SA Department of
Transport. Thus Pik Botha consulted Hendrik Schoeman of the Department
of Transport, once Machel’s death was confirmed. After Botha and
Schoeman had visited the crash site, Botha cited special circumstances
and other international protocols as reasons to become
involved.[6]

[edit] On site investigation

The Mozambican government was informed of the situation and invited
to send representatives to the border town of Komatipoort.
Mozambican minister Sérgio Vieira joined Pik Botha at Komatipoort from
where they departed by SAAF helicopter. The helicopter was
only able to transport one of two members of the Civil Aviation Bureau,
Mr. Pieter de Klerk, who was asked to offer guidance on site.

On arrival, Mozambican minister Sérgio Vieira asked for the documents
that were taken from the aircraft to be handed to him. The SA
commissioner of police, Johann Coetzee, had already made copies of
these, and the documents were transferred to Vieira. The SABC was permitted
to take photos at the scene and to do on location reports, the
only news agency enabled to do so. The South African government claimed
that the Civil Aviation Bureau had no complaints about procedures
followed at the site. Nonetheless, the flight data and cockpit voice recorders were removed
by the South African Police, who later refused
to release them for independent inspection.[6][7][12]

[edit] South African
investigation

On the day after the crash, October 20, Mozambique and South Africa
agreed that an international board of inquiry should be established with
the participation of the International Civil
Aviation Organization. The Chicago Convention
determined that South Africa, as the state on whose territory the crash
had occurred, would head the investigation. South Africa was obliged to
work in partnership with the state of ownership (Mozambique) and the
state of manufacture (Soviet Union).

Twelve days following the crash, at 18:00 on October 31, 1986, Pik
Botha convened an interdepartmental government meeting, nominally to
discuss progress.

After the meeting, Pik Botha made press announcements to the effect
that the aircraft was fitted with antiquated instruments and that tests
on two dead crew members revealed excess alcohol content in their
bloodstream.[5][7]
On a November 6 press conference Botha in addition announced that a
document retrieved from the plane revealed a Mozambican-Zimbabwean plot
to topple the Malawian government.[5]
Pik Botha was reported to have told Lothar Neethling of the SAP to withhold the flight data– and cockpit voice recorders from
inspection by both international and Civil Aviation Bureau
investigators.[6][7][12]
Soviet and Mozambican investigators were thus placed at a disadvantage
in their investigations.

[edit] Joint investigations

Director Renee van Zyl of the South African Civil Aviation Bureau
then served a writ
on Botha and the SAP, and received the two recorders unceremoniously
at 15:45 on November 11, 1986. The three international teams signed a
protocol of secrecy on November 14, 1986[7]
as Botha’s selective announcements were straining relations[5]
between the teams and governments. This allowed the teams to agree on
the procedures they were to follow.

Nevertheless Botha reported to Beeld
newspaper on November 24, 1986 that he had listened to Maputo air traffic control’s recordings and studied a
transcription of them. These he acquired from Foreign Affair’s
representative in the South African team.

[edit] Margo Commission

The South African government established the Margo Commission,
chaired by judge Cecil Margo, to investigate the accident. Pik
Botha realised that negative international opinion was escalating around
the matter and decided to appoint three international members of high
standing to the commission.[6]
They were:

• Frank Borman, former US test
  pilot, astronaut and president of Eastern Air Lines
• Geoffrey Wilkinson, former head of the British Department for Transport’s Air Accidents Investigation
  Branch
• Sir
  Edward Eveleigh, former Lord Justice of Appeal and member of the British Privy
  Council

[edit] Findings

The Margo commission’s findings were based mainly on the flight
recorders, testimony by South African officials and the technical report
submitted by the SA investigation team. The Soviet investigation team
refused to take part in any public testimony and the Mozambican team
also withdrew at the last moment.

The flight recorders gave excellent results, the cockpit voice recorder especially
revealing much about the interactions between crew members. The
investigation was however delayed for several weeks by South African police general Lothar Neethling's refusal to hand the recorders over
after he had seized them at the scene of the crash.[7]

The commission nevertheless concluded that:[1]

• "the aircraft was airworthy
  and fully serviced
• there is no evidence of sabotage or outside interference,
• the cause of the accident was that the flight crew failed to follow
  procedural requirements for an instrument let-down approach,
• the crew continued to descend under visual flight rules in darkness and some cloud without
  having contact with the minimum assigned altitude,
• the crew also ignored the Ground
  Warning Proximity alarm."

The Margo report was accepted by the International Civil
Aviation Organization.

[edit] Claims of a decoy
beacon

Suspicion of a beacon in the Lebombos was first expressed by South
African helicopter pilots on the morning following the crash, followed
by a similar suggestion in an anonymous call to UPI by a supposed SAAF officer, a day later.[5]
The pilots' speculative remark was revealed to Sérgio Vieira,
Mozambique's minister of security, in a rash comment by South African
police commissioner Johann Coetzee.[5]
Neither the Mozambican or Russian teams however, nor any witness
testimony given, supplied any evidence or direct allegation concerning a
secondary beacon to the Margo commission.[2]
The Margo commission's draft report then proposed Matsapa airfield's VOR, combined with pilot
error, as playing a likely role in the trajectory followed. The
USSR delegation disputed this, saying the signal was obscured by
mountains.[2]

A breakdown in communications followed, causing Gen. Earp of the South African Air Force to authorise military
pilots to penetrate Mozambique airspace
to test the Matsapa theory.[2]
They returned with confirmation, though the final report relied on
additional testimonies of commercial pilots who flew on C9-CAA's track.
They likewise confirmed clear VOR signals from Matsapa.[2]
Mozambican pilot Dias, who supported the Matsapa theory, illustrated
his interpretation of events to Mozambican officials on a flight from Lisbon to
Maputo.[9][10]
Mozambican authorities however remained unconvinced and suspended air
controller de Jesus on May 5, 1998, for allegedly having been bribed to
tamper with Maputo airport's beacon on the night of the crash.[13]

[edit] Other investigations
[edit] Soviet report

The Soviet delegation issued a minority report saying that their
expertise and experience had been undermined by the South Africans. They
advanced the theory of complicity of South African security forces and
that the plane had been intentionally diverted by a false navigational beacon signal, using a
technology provided by Israeli intelligence agents. The Soviet report
focused on the 37 degrees' right turn that led the plane into the hills
of Mbuzini. It rejected the finding of the Margo Commission, saying that
the crew had read the ground proximity warning as false since they
believed themselves to be in flat terrain as they approached landing.[citation needed]

[edit]
Independent
Mozambican investigation

Mozambique contracted an independent and highly qualified Canadian
(or British) investigator by the name of Young.[when?]
Relying on flight plots by Mozambican expert Caiger, Young questioned
the false radio beacon theory as an explanation for the wrong
trajectory. In his opinion a false VOR beacon operating on the same frequency
would have directed the aircraft on a curvilinear path. This was
contradicted by the straight paths recorded for both the C9-CAA
presidential aircraft and the C9-BAA aircraft which followed minutes
afterward.[2][7]

[edit] TRC report 2001

Main article: Truth and
Reconciliation Commission (South Africa)

Twelve years after the crash, when the apartheid regime had been
replaced by a democratically-elected South African government, a special
investigation into Machel's death was carried out in 2001 by the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission (TRC).

The TRC investigation was criticized[who?] for taking
place in
camera and without any aviation specialist being present. The
testimony was further led by a prominent radio journalist rather than a
judge. The TRC's investigation did not find conclusive evidence to
support or refute either of the earlier reports. Nonetheless, some
pieces of circumstantial evidence collected by the TRC lead to questions
being raised[who?] about a number
of the Margo Commission's findings:

• A former Military Intelligence (MI) officer alleged that Pik
  Botha and a number of high-ranking security officials held a meeting at
  Skwamans, a secret security police base shared with MI operatives
  halfway between Mbuzini and Komatipoort,
  on the day before the crash. They left late that night in a small plane
  and some, including Pik Botha, returned there after the crash.[3]
• C9-CAA entered a military and operational zone in South Africa (a restricted airspace, which was presumed
  to be under radar
  surveillance.) However, no warning that the plane was off course or in
  South African airspace was given to the aircraft.[5]
• South Africa's State Security Council (SSC) minutes from January
  1984 indicate that the Mozambican working
  group, including General Jac Buchner and Major Craig Williamson, discussed how to help RENAMO overthrow
  the FRELIMO government of Mozambique.

The TRC report concluded that the questions of a false beacon and the absence of a warning from the
South African authorities require "further investigation by an
appropriate structure".[3]

A police video in the TRC's possession shows South African foreign
minister Pik Botha telling journalists at the crash site that
President Samora Machel and others killed in the crash were his and
President P.W. Botha's "very good friends", and
that their deaths were therefore a tragedy for South Africa.

[edit] Confession by Hans Louw

In January 2003, the Sowetan Sunday World reported that an
apartheid era killer and former CCB member, Hans Louw,
serving a 28-year term at Baviaanspoort Prison near Pretoria,
had confessed to participating in a plot to kill Machel. A false radio navigational beacon would have been used to lure
the aircraft off course, with Louw forming part of an alleged backup
team to shoot the aircraft down if it didn't crash.[14][15][16]
The newspaper also alleged that another of the plotters, former
Rhodesian Selous Scout, Edwin Mudingi, supported Louw's
claim.[17]
However, after an investigation by the Scorpions,[12][18]
a South African special police unit, it was reported in July 2003 and
in October 2008 that they could find no evidence for South African
complicity.[7][19]

[edit] 2006 inquiry

South African minister of Safety and Security, Charles Nqakula announced on February 2, 2006 that the
Machel death crash inquiry would be reopened. He told reporters in
parliament that all of South Africa's law enforcement agencies were
expected to be involved in the probe, in co-operation with their
Mozambican counterparts.[20][21]

[edit] Aftermath
[edit] 1996 Anniversary

A Mbuzini wreath laying ceremony on October 17 was attended by Graça
Machel and addressed by Nelson Mandela. Mandela declared the initial
simple memorial a South African national monument and hailed Machel as a
universal hero whose life exemplified the highest ideals of
internationalism and universality. Mandela cautiously claimed that the
precise chain of events leading to Machel's death were uncertain and
elusive, and repeated an earlier promise that no stone would be left
unturned to establish the full truth.[2][22][23]

[edit] 1999 monument

Main article: Samora Machel Monument

A memorial was erected at the crash site.
Designed by Mozambican architect, Jose Forjaz, at a cost to the South
African government of 1.5 million Rand (US$ 300,000), the monument
comprises 35 whistling wind pipes to symbolise each of the
lives lost in the air crash. It was inaugurated on January 19, 1999 by Nelson Mandela, his wife Graça, and by President Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique.

[edit] 2006 anniversary

At the 20th anniversary of the crash on October 19, 2006, South
African president, Thabo Mbeki declared the memorial a national
heritage site.[24]
Leading up to the event the Mozambican president Guebuza, who chaired the Mozambican inquiry in 1986,
repeated a commitment to discover the truth about the incident,[25]
while President Mbeki, in his state of the nation address of February
3, 2006, mentioned that a satisfactory explanation was still lacking.[26]

[edit]
Nelson
Mandela's and Graça Machel's accusations

At the Mandela-Machel wedding ceremony on July 18, 1998, Mandela was
however reported to have announced that Samora Machel was murdered,
without reference to the South African board of enquiry's findings.[2]
Graça Machel believes the air crash was no accident and has
dedicated her life to tracking down her late husband's killers. In May
1999, Graça Machel said in an interview on SABC TV's News
Maker programme that she remained convinced the apartheid regime was
responsible, and challenged former foreign minister Pik
Botha to come clean about Samora Machel's death. In reply, Botha
told SABC TV on May 16, 1999 that although he had been one of the first
people on the scene and was called on to identify Machel's body, the
only facts he knew about the crash were the findings of the Margo
Commission:[27]

“
"I totally reject any
suggestion that I could have been a party to a decision of that nature.
It is an extremely sad moment for me. - Pik Botha
”

[edit] Economic impact

A study by Jones and Olken[28]
claims that the crash had immediate wider repercussions for
Mozambique's economy. An annual 7.7% decline in GDP under Machel's communist
nationalisation policies, reverted to growth
averaging 2.4% per annum under the freer, multi-party democracy in the tenure of
his successor, Joaquim Chissano.

[edit] Fiction

The theory that South African agents were involved in the death of
Machel was the basis of a book, Blood Safari (Afrikaans
version was titled "Onsigbaar") by South African author Deon
Meyer.

[edit] References

1. ^ a
   b
   c
   d
   e
   f
   Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved
   on 2007-12-18.
2. ^ a
   b
   c
   d
   e
   f
   g
   h
   i
   j
   k
   l
   m
   Margo, Cecil (1998). Final Postponement,
   Reminiscenses of a Crowded Life. Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball
   Publishers. pp. 216–231. ISBN 1-86842-071X. 
3. ^ a
   b
   c
   d
   e
   f
   "Special Investigation into the death of President Samora
   Machel". Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Vol.
   2, Chap. 6. 1998. Archived from the original on 2009-07-21. http://www.webcitation.org/5iRpLb2Ia. Retrieved 2009-07-18. 
4. ^
   Africa Confidential 27 (23), November 12,
   1986 
5. ^ a
   b
   c
   d
   e
   f
   g
   h
   i
   j
   Fauvet, Paul, et al (2003). Carlos
   Cardoso: Telling the Truth in Mozambique. Double Storey.
   pp. 155–178. ISBN 1919-930-310. 
6. ^ a
   b
   c
   d
   e
   Botha, Pik (October 25, 2006). "Sonder bewyse sal Machel-omstredenheid net voortduur
   (Machel controversy to continue in absence of evidence)". Beeld.
   p. 19. Archived from the original on 2009-07-21. http://www.webcitation.org/5iRpLCNub. Retrieved 2009-07-12. 
7. ^ a
   b
   c
   d
   e
   f
   g
   h
   i
   j
   k
   l
   m
   Lynch, Des (October 20, 2006). "Die mites oor Machel (The myths around Machel)". Beeld.
   p. 17. Archived from the original on 2009-07-21. http://www.webcitation.org/5iRpLxx3f. Retrieved 2009-07-12. 
8. ^
   AIM information bulletin, (Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique),
   Maputo, Mozambique, 1986-87
9. ^ a
   b
   Gibson, Erika (November 28, 2008). "Machel-ramp: Vlieëniers glo gemuilband (Machel crash:
   Pilots said to be muzzled)". Beeld.
   p. 18. Archived from the original on 2009-07-31. http://www.webcitation.org/5igmtf57P. Retrieved 2009-07-30. 
10. ^ a
    b
    c
    d
    Dias, Luís Brito (August 28, 2008). "The
    Accident at Mbuzini, Sérgio Vieira Ordered Mozambique Airline Pilots to
    Remain Silent". Zambeze. p. 2. 
11. ^
    Novosselov, Vladimir (surviving crew member), Komsomolskaya Pravada,
    November 19, 1986
12. ^ a
    b
    c
    Commey, Pusch (January 2003). "Mozambique: Inquiry into Machel's
    death reopens". BNet. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5391/is_200301/ai_n21324925/. Retrieved 2009-07-13. 
13. ^
    "Parts of Machel's plane wreck given to SA farmers as
    gifts". Sapa.
    June 16, 1998. Archived from the original on 2009-08-05. http://www.webcitation.org/5io78iZa0. Retrieved 2009-08-02. 
14. ^
    "Ex-CCB man in Machel death claim".
    Daily Dispatch. http://www.dispatch.co.za/2003/01/13/southafrica/EMACHEL.HTM. Retrieved 2008-10-06. 
15. ^
    Robinson, David Alexander. "A Case of Assassination?". University of Cape Town. http://www.africanstudies.uct.ac.za/postamble/vol2-2/assassination.pdf. Retrieved 2008-10-06. 
16. ^
    "Former CCB man: How we assassinated a president". Cape
    Argus. October 8, 2008. Archived from the original on 2009-08-05. http://www.webcitation.org/5io7Bf4h2. Retrieved 2009-08-02. 
17. ^
    "Probe Samora Machel's death - Pik
    Botha". Sunday Independent.
    http://www.sundayindependent.co.za/?fSectionId=3536&fArticleId=nw20081006154944165C741265. Retrieved 2008-10-06. 
18. ^
    Olivier, Annie (January 13, 2003). "Skerpioene ondersoek oud-BSB-man se bewerings oor Machel
    (Scorpions to investigate ex-CCB man's claims concerning Machel)". Beeld.
    p. 2. Archived from the original on 2009-07-31. http://www.webcitation.org/5igmu1Bxc. Retrieved 2009-07-30. 
19. ^
    Kirk, Paul (October 10,
    2008), "Machel murder claim ‘a lie’", Citizen, http://www.citizen.co.za/index/article.aspx?pDesc=79767,1,22 
20. ^
    "Machel probe to re-open". East Coast Radio. February 9, 2006. http://www.ecr.co.za/content/view/3557/81/. Retrieved 2008-03-29. 
21. ^
    Thompson, Christopher (October 20, 2006). "Mozambique seeks new probe into
    Machel crash". Mail & Guardian. http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=287207&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/. Retrieved 2008-03-29. 
22. ^
    "Mandela's speech at the commemoration of the death of
    president Samora Machel". Office of the President, ANC Daily News
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23. ^
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[edit]
Further
reading and external links

• A Morte de Samora Machel, João M. Cabrita, 2005. Novafrica,
  Maputo
• Clayburn, Yvonne (1989). Soviet disinformation strategy as applied to
  Samora Machel death crash. Institut für Afrikanische und Internationale
  Studien. http://books.google.com/books?id=Aj7LHgAACAAJ. 
• Mystery still surrounds Machel
  death
• Photos of the aircraft

Michele Ciavarella, http://poliba.academia.edu/micheleciavarella
Editor, Italian Science Debate, www.sciencedebate.it
blogs http://rettorevirtuoso.blogspot.com/
YouTube Channel http://www.youtube.com/user/RettoreVirtuoso

Michele Ciavarella, http://poliba.academia.edu/micheleciavarella
Editor, Italian Science Debate, www.sciencedebate.it
blogs http://rettorevirtuoso.blogspot.com/
YouTube Channel http://www.youtube.com/user/RettoreVirtuoso