1974 Togolese Air Force C-47 crash

1974 aviation accident in Togo 1974 Togolese Air Force C-47 crash Pyramid Airlines Douglas C-47 Groves.jpg A Douglas C-47 Skytrain, similar to the accident aircraft Accident 24 January 1974 Crashed on approach for undetermined reasons Near Sarakawa, Togo 9 38 N 1 01 E title,inline Douglas C-47 Skytrain Togolese Air Force 5V-MAG Lomé, Togo Pya, Togo 7+ 1–2 3–7 Several 5+ thumb|right|Monument to the crash 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.Packer George George Packer The Village of Waiting Macmillan 2001 104 According to one account, Eyadéma survived, but his French pilot and three other passengers died.Sundkler Bengt Bengt Sundkler A History of the church in Africa Cambridge University Press 2000 938 Another account of the crash was given by survivor Pastor François Roux, who mentioned two pilots and more than seven passengers, including Yaya Malou and Alidou Djafalo, the ministers for education and health. Both ministers survived the crash. According to Roux, four people died instantly (including the two pilots), while three more would succumb to their injuries afterwards, bringing the total number of fatalities to seven.J’ai eu le temps d’envisager notre mort collective https://www.republicoftogo.com/toutes-les-rubriques/politique/j-ai-eu-le-temps-d-envisager-notre-mort-collective 2026-07-29 République Togolaise fr-FR Eyadéma, who reportedly emerged from the crash with only minor injuries and refused medical treatment, claimed the aircraft had been sabotaged after he had reneged on an agreement with a French company over the use of a phosphate mine. Eyadéma attributed his survival to mystical powers and declared 24 January to be "Economic Liberation Day." Eyadéma even changed his first name from Étienne to Gnassingbé to remember the date of the day he survived the crash.Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations 1984 University of Michigan Worldmark Press 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.Photo and description of monument https://www.flickr.com/photos/julio_/10203183 14 April 2004 https://web.archive.org/web/20170501225227/https://www.flickr.com/photos/julio_/10203183/ 2017-05-01 live 2009-07-30 Eyadéma was not the sole survivor of the crash,Le Togo s'est recueilli pour la 35ème fois Togo gathered for the 35th time http://www.presidencetogo.tg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=355&Itemid=32 dead https://archive.today/20130418141335/http://www.presidencetogo.tg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=355&Itemid=32 April 18, 2013 June 17, 2012 Presidency of Togo French 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 Togo s'est remémoré Sarakawa 1974 Togo remembered Sarakawa 1974 http://www.presidencetogo.tg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1638&Itemid=32 dead https://archive.today/20130418143943/http://www.presidencetogo.tg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1638&Itemid=32 April 18, 2013 June 17, 2012 fr Présidence du Togo French 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. 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.Fare Marthe Marthe Fare February 17, 2012 Togo : F. Gnassingbé s'attaque à l'héritage paternel http://www.tv5.org/cms/chaine-francophone/info/Les-dossiers-de-la-redaction/Togo-Faure-Gnassingbe-s-attaque-a-l-heritage-paternel/p-20352-Togo-F.-Gnassingbe-s-attaque-a-l-heritage-paternel.htm dead https://web.archive.org/web/20120219234902/http://www.tv5.org/cms/chaine-francophone/info/Les-dossiers-de-la-redaction/Togo-Faure-Gnassingbe-s-attaque-a-l-heritage-paternel/p-20352-Togo-F.-Gnassingbe-s-attaque-a-l-heritage-paternel.htm February 19, 2012 June 17, 2012 TV5MONDE French 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.]Occansey Me Siméon Kwami February 4, 2004 Retour sur la fable de " L'attentat " de Sarakawa Return to the fable of "The attack" of Sarakawa http://www.ufctogo.com/spip.php?page=article_texte&id_article=267 June 17, 2012 Union of Forces for Change French July 29, 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20130729140407/http://www.ufctogo.com/spip.php?page=article_texte&id_article=267 dead 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 (fr Compagnie Togolaise des Mines du Bénin (CTMB or Cotomib)).Morten Hagen Michelle Spearing Togo: Stalled Democratic Transition http://www.diastode.org/Droits/cdd.html Diastode November 28, 2000 June 17, 2012 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20120902023414/http://www.diastode.org/Droits/cdd.html September 2, 2012 January 23, 2011 Les "Trois Glorieuses" The "Three Glorious" http://www.republicoftogo.com/Toutes-les-rubriques/Politique/Les-Trois-Glorieuses3 June 17, 2012 Togolese Republic French 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.Ranter Harro ASN Aircraft accident Gulfstream Aerospace G-1159 Gulfstream II 5V-TAA Lome Airport (LFW) http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19741226-0 June 17, 2012 Aviation Safety Network Flight Safety Foundation Eyadéma was not on board the jet at the time. References Category:Aviation accidents and incidents involving the Douglas C-47 Skytrain Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1974 Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Togo Category:Aviation accidents and incidents involving state leaders Category:January 1974 in Africa Plane crash