On 28 November 1987, the South African Airways Helderberg 747 jet aircraft crashed into the Indian Ocean near Mauritius, killing all 159 people on board.
It is believed that a fire, which started in the main deck cargo hold, caused the aircraft to crash.
According to the findings of a board of enquiry, headed by Mr Justice Margo, the fire was fuelled by plastic and cardboard packing materials.
The actual source of ignition could not be determined, but sabotage was unlikely to have been the cause of ignition.
According to Mr Justice Margo the smoke and fire detector systems, as well as the firefighting facilities, were in poor working condition.
Rumours that there had been a fire earlier and the fact that a ZUR tape recording of the flight had disappeared, led to wide-spread speculations in the press.
Information sourced from: South African History Online.
