In the final decade the airline was to suffer from political interference, chronic lack of capital, increased competition and the eventual loss of experienced staff.
The fifth (and last production) Super VC10 (5H-MOG) was delivered early in March and the following month a brief announcement revealed that three McDonnell Douglas DC-9 Series 30s had been ordered for delivery in 1970-71.
A major event occurred on 10th December 1970 with the inauguration of a once-weekly service between Nairobi and New York via Zurich with which E.A.A.C. hoped to capture some of the American tourist traffic to East Africa. It was intended that the DC-9s would be delivered in November and December 1970 but for various reasons only one aircraft (5H-MOI) was received before the end of the year. This delay resulted in the appearance of yet another Dan-Air Comet (5Y-AMT) as a replacement for 5Y-ALF which was returned off lease. Being on short-term lease, 5Y-AMT suffered minimal alterations to its original livery and had the distinction of operating the last flight when more than ten years of Comet operations ceased on 19th February 1971. All three East African Airways Comets were sold to Dan-Air for spares.
A dedicated fully palletised cargo service was started on 28th January 1971 by EAA between Zambia, East Africa and the UK. The aircraft was a Britannia provided by Lloyd International Airways. The cargo capacity was 16 tons on 8 pallets. Unfortunately the service was rarely full and in its first year produced a loss to the airline of K£450,000.
The airline had overextended itself with the flights to New York and the eastern extension from Bombay to Hong Kong. As a result of increasing losses both services were “suspended” in July 1971, never to be restarted.
Tragedy hit the airline in 1972 when a Super VC-10 was lost with heavy loss of life. On the morning of 18th April, passengers boarded 5X-UVA at Addis Ababa on flight EC720 which was heading to London from East Africa. On takeoff, as the aircraft was accelerating down the runway a loud bang was heard, followed by intense vibration. The flight crew immediately aborted the take-off, applied full braking and reverse thrust but the aircraft was already traveling at about 140 knots. The runway at Addis Ababa did not have an ‘over run’ at that time and the aircraft hit the top of a ditch, crashed into a lighting tower and finally came to rest with the tail broken off by the impact. As the survivors were exiting the aircraft, it burst into flames. Three flight crew (including Captain John Vale), four cabin crew and 35 passengers died in the tragedy. In the subsequent enquiry, it was discovered that a jacking pad from a light aircraft had become detached and imbedded into the tarmac of the runway. 5X-UVA hit this small object and was responsible for badly damaging the nose wheel and bursting a tyre. Another factor, was the incorrect fitting of a brake assembly at Nairobi which meant that the braking system was not as effective as it should have been. (from Peter J. Davis).
to be continued...