DATE=5/23/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=SAF / PLANE / NUCLEAR (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-262694
BYLINE=ALEX BELIDA
DATELINE=JOHANNESBURG
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A leading South African newspaper has reported
that there may have been a nuclear bomb aboard a South
African airliner that crashed mysteriously into the
sea off Mauritius 13 years ago, killing all 159 people
on board. V-O-A Correspondent Alex Belida reports
from Johannesburg.
TEXT: The Afrikaans-language daily "Beeld" says the
presence of a nuclear bomb on board the 747 jumbo jet
is revealed in the transcript of newly-deciphered
conversations recorded on the aircraft's cockpit voice
recorder.
The transcript quotes the pilot as telling his co-
pilot and flight engineer that the bomb was the
property of the then white-minority South African
government and that its presence on the plane was a
secret. The document indicates the other crewmembers
were stunned. One of them is quoted as saying, "What
madness" and "It is really frightening what could
happen."
"Beeld" says it is not clear from the transcript
whether the device was assembled or whether the
components were being transported separately.
The plane was on a flight from Taipei to Johannesburg
when it crashed into the Indian Ocean in 1987.
Previous inquiries have found no one was to blame
for the accident. But South African civil aviation
authorities confirmed last week that they were
examining new evidence suggesting there was what they
termed "deadly cargo" on the plane.
There have been other published reports claiming there
were dangerous chemicals on board, possibly including
ingredients for making rocket fuel.
The renewed interest in the 13-year-old case has
prompted the opposition United Democratic Movement
party in South Africa to call for a new, high-level
investigation by the government.
South African Transport Minister Dullah Omar is
reportedly prepared to order a new probe into the
disaster. But Mr. Omar's spokesman says civil
aviation authorities first need to evaluate the
authenticity of the new cockpit transcript.
South Africa's former white-minority government is
known to have developed a nuclear capability but all
of the devices it manufactured are said to have been
dismantled. (Signed)
NEB/BEL/JWH/KBK
23-May-2000 10:39 AM EDT (23-May-2000 1439 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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