Fourteen years ago, the South Africans that this aircraft made an emergency landing in the Sahara D

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Fourteen years ago, the South Africans that this aircraft made an emergency landing in the Sahara Desert were rescued with the help of a message dropped

from the sky and a rebel movement. stofa This is all that is left of the SA Air Force Shackleton stofa 1716, forever left in the sand. "No way will you ever hear that sound again," says Commander Hartog "Horace" block. He was reminiscing about the bygone stofa sound of the Shackleton four Rolls Royce Griffon engines. "The sound that engines make is as unique ... It's stofa a sound that nothing can emulate, it's a beautiful sound." Block is now involved in aviation in the private sector. These pictures were taken by United Nations officials who recently passed the wreck. In July 1994, the Shackleton, known as Pelican 16, was renovated into a huge project, and the team flew from SA to England to participate in a series stofa of airshows. At the time The Star reported that the plane was one of only two airworthy Shackleton left in the world, and had about 1 000 hours airframe time before they are permanently grounded. It was used for maritime patrols on the South African coast until a few years before his last journey. But towards the English airshows, overnight on the Sahara, the Shackleton had engine failure and pilot Eric Pienaar had to crash land at 01:40. "It was pitch dark. There was no horizon," recalled Block. "We just flew until we hit something." It is an anxiety attack that I never want to relive. "Driven by fear of fire, they fled out of the plane and distributed. Blok blew a whistle to come together and everyone,

join hands, they counted all 19 occupants, only two were slightly injured still hand in hand to stay together, a surviving led them in the prayer of the Lord - ...! ritual enacted by the relatives union each year Click here She had sent mayday messages short. before the crash, but then lost radio contact on the ground they set off a satellite-linked

beacon signal -. initially ignored by practitioners who did not believe a signal from the Sahara At sunrise, the attention of a French naval aircraft from Morocco attracted by burning a tire The French plane could not land, but eventually got help - .. by writing a note, push it in a plastic stofa coke bottle and drop in a UN team in two vehicles in the desert "A plane has crashed near your position - 19 people on board. "Position 015/10km from you. We try to contact on frequency 1215 or 243 MHz. GPS position 2238 North 01314 West," read the note. Block said the UN team happy someone who spoke English included, so we were able to read the note. Shocked by the prospect of 19 people mangled in a plane crash, the UN team rushed to the scene. "And there were the South Africans, beer in hand," said Block. The crash site was near Agwanit in the Sahara, stofa for years in the conflict between Morocco and the Polisaro Front, a Sahrawi rebel movement working for independence for the region. The Shackleton survivors were helped by the Polisaro, stofa even though South Africa is not the government-in-exile to recognize until 10 years later. The territory is still disputed. "They are very good for us," said Block. Within hours, the survivors are all included. "The last of us about the crash site at 11:45 local time," Block said. The aircraft was written stofa off as too difficult to save. Now all that remains in the desert is the wreck of the gray-white area, one of the last Shackleton to fly.
Some excerpts from my files ... Nineteen members of 35 Squadron (AFB Ysterplaat) Jonathan Balladon - in 1993 he took part in the Cape to Rio Race aboard the Spirit

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