Air Rhodesia Flight 827, the Umniati, was a scheduled flight RH827 between Kariba and Salisbury that was shot down on 12 February 1979 by ZIPRA guerrillas using a Strela 2 missile soon after take-off. The circumstances were very similar to that of Air Rhodesia Flight 825 five months earlier.

The flight's departure from Kariba had been delayed, so it had not climbed over the lake to get above the ceiling of shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles before heading for Salisbury. The aircraft was damaged by a Strela 2 missile and came down in rough terrain in the Vuti African Purchase Area east of Lake Kariba. None of the 59 passengers or crew survived.

Following the second incident, Air Rhodesia modified the exhaust pipes of the Viscount aircraft to reduce their heat signature, and painted the aircraft with a low-radiation paint



With the sole exception of the International Airline Pilots Association, there was no condemnation by the international community for this vicious attack on a civilian aircraft by Joshua Nkomo's ZIPRA terror “liberation forces”. Even from those who should have spoken out in the Western democracies, Britain and the United States, cowed by political correctness against giving what could be considered support of Ian Smith’s white minority government. Instead, there was only what the Dean of the Anglican Church in Rhodesia, the Very Reverend John da Costa, in a sermon to an overflowed crowd memorial service at the Anglican Cathedral in Salisbury a few days later after the incidents, termed “a deafening silence”.

“Nobody who holds sacred the dignity of human life can be anything but sickened at the events attending the crash of the Viscount Hunyani. Survivors have the greatest call on the sympathy and assistance of every other human being. The horror of the crash was bad enough, but that this should have been compounded by the murder of the most savage and treacherous sort leaves us stunned with disbelief and brings revulsion in the minds of anyone deserving the name “human”. This bestiality, worse than anything in recent history, stinks in the nostrils of heaven. But are we deafened by the voice of protest from nations which call themselves “civilised”? We are not. Like men in the story of the good Samaritan. They ‘pass by on the other side’. One listens for condemnation by Dr David Owen, himself a medical doctor, trained to help all in need. One listens, and the silence is deafening. One listens for loud condemnation by the President of the United States, himself a man from the Bible-Baptist belt , and once again the silence is deafening. One listens for condemnation by the Pope, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, by all who love the name of God. Again the silence is deafening. I do not believe in white supremacy. I do not believe in black supremacy either……The ghastliness of this ill-fated flight from Kariba will be burned upon our memories for years to come. For others far from our borders, it is an intellectual matter, not one which affects them deeply.”

To this day, this Deafening Silence remains. Compare this to the international condemnation of the Lockerbie bombing and the eventual release of the bomber from jail. The detailed book and DVD 'Viscount Down' by Keith Nell, former Rhodesian SAS soldier will rightfully bring this story back into the news.


Below is a list of the current books now available from us, in no particular order (click on the link under book description). There have been other publications that covers the incidents in part and most are now 'Out of Print' and are hard to get / fetch high prices. Should there be a relevant title that we should know about that should be listed on this site, please let us know.