Cashel South African Air Force Alouette crash

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Cashel South African Air Force Alouette crash

An Aerospatiale SA-316 Alouette III of the SAAF, 1970s.
Accident
Date	23 December 1975
Summary	Crashed after flying into a hawser cable
Site	Cashel, Rhodesia
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Aérospatiale Alouette III helicopter
Operator	South African Air Force
Flight origin	Umtali
Destination	Melsetter
Occupants	6
Crew	6
Fatalities	5
Injuries	1
Survivors	1

On 23 December 1975, an Aérospatiale Alouette III helicopter of the South African Air Force carrying a two-man crew and four Rhodesian Army officers crashed near Cashel in Rhodesia after it collided with a hawser cable mid-flight. The accident dealt a severe blow to the Rhodesian Security Forces, then fighting bitterly against ZANLA and ZIPRA insurgents in the Rhodesian Bush War, for the officers involved were some of its best and would prove difficult to replace.