A C-47 similar to the accident aircraft
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| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 24 January 1974 |
| Summary | Crashed on approach for undetermined reasons |
| Site | Near Sarakawa, Togo |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Douglas C-47 Skytrain |
| Operator | Togolese Air Force |
| Registration | 5V-MAG |
| Flight origin | Lomé, Togo |
| Destination | Pya, Togo |
| Passengers | 4 |
| Crew | 1 |
| Fatalities | 4 |
| Injuries | 1 |
| Survivors | 1 |
On 24 January 1974, a Togo Air Force Douglas C-47 Skytrain carrying several notable political figures crashed at an isolated location near the village of Sarakawa in northern Togo. Gnassingbé Eyadéma, the President of Togo, was on board the aircraft, which was flying from Lomé to his native village, Pya. As the C-47 descended for landing, it crashed near Sarakawa.[1] Eyadéma survived, but his French pilot and all three other passengers died.[2]
Eyadéma claimed the aircraft had been sabotaged after he had reneged on an agreement with a French company over the use of a phosphate mine.[1] Eyadéma attributed his survival to mystical powers and declared 24 January to be "Economic Liberation Day."[1] Eyadéma even changed his first name from Étienne to Gnassingbé to remember the date of the day he survived the crash.[3]
Following the incident, a monument was established by the Togolese government near the crash site. The monument features a statue of Eyadéma standing on a plinth, flanked by images of his generals who died in the crash.[4]
Eyadéma was not the sole survivor of the crash,[5][6] but he deliberately misrepresented the details of the accident to make himself look like a hero with superhuman strength who miraculously survived the disaster when everyone else was killed.[7][8] Eyadéma claimed that the crash was not an accident but was a conspiracy to kill him, plotted by French imperialists who did not like his plan (announced on 10 January 1974) to nationalize the important phosphate mining company, the Togolese Mines Company of Benin (French: Compagnie Togolaise des Mines du Bénin (CTMB or Cotomib)).[9][10] His C-47 was replaced by a new presidential jet, a Gulfstream II (registered as 5V-TAA) which was itself damaged beyond repair in a crash on 26 December of the same year, which killed three members of the crew, but which all three of the passengers on board survived.[11] Eyadéma was not on board the jet at the time.
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Le Pasteur François Roux, l'un des rescapés du Crash, invité pour la circonstance, a fait un témoignage émouvant sur cet événement.[Pastor François Roux, one of the survivors of the Crash, invited for the occasion, gave a moving testimony on this event.]
Le jeudi 24 janvier 1974, le DC-3 des Forces Armées Togolaises s'écrase à Sarakawa faisant 4 martyrs, des blessés parmi lesquels, feu Général Gnassingbé Eyadema.[On Thursday, January 24, 1974, the DC-3 of the Togolese Armed Forces crashed in Sarakawa causing 4 martyrs, injuries including the late General Gnassingbé Eyadema.]
On le fait passer pour le seul survivant de l'accident, d'où le mythe de son invincibilité et l'expression «le miraculé» de Sarakawa. [English: He is passed off as the only survivor of the accident, hence the myth of his invincibility and the expression "the miraculous" of Sarakawa.]
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Aviation accidents and incidents in 1974 (1974)
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|---|---|
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Jan 24 Jan 26 Jan 30 Feb 22 Mar 3 Mar 13 Sierra Pacific Airlines Flight 802 Mar 15 Apr 18 Apr 22 Apr 27 Jul 10 Jul 23 British Airways bombing attempt Aug 9 Aug 9 Sep 8 Sep 11 Sep 15 Oct 30 Nov 1 Nov 20 Dec 1 Dec 1 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 6231 Dec 4 Dec 22 | |
