| Central African Airways Flight 890 | |
| Image Upright: | 1.20 |
| Occurrence Type: | Accident |
| Date: | 9 August 1958 |
| Summary: | Pilot error |
| Site: | near Benina International Airport |
| Origin: | Salisbury Airport |
| Passengers: | 47 |
| Crew: | 7 |
| Fatalities: | 36 |
| Injuries: | Unknown |
| Survivors: | 18 |
| Aircraft Type: | Vickers Viscount 745D |
| Aircraft Name: | Mpika |
| Operator: | Central African Airways |
| Tail Number: | VP-YNE |
| Stopover0: | Ndola Airport |
| Stopover1: | Entebbe International Airport |
| Stopover2: | Khartoum International Airport |
| Stopover3: | Wadi Halfa Airport |
| Last Stopover: | Benina International Airport |
| Destination: | Heathrow Airport |
Central African Airways Flight 890, a Vickers Viscount 745D, crashed during a scheduled passenger flight from Wadi Halfa, Sudan, to Benghazi, Libya, about nine kilometers southeast of Benina International Airport in Libya.[1] [2] A total of forty-seven passengers and seven crew members were on board of whom only eighteen survived, making it the deadliest ever plane crash in Libya at the time of the accident. It still remains the deadliest accident for Central African Airways.
According to an International Civil Aviation Organization accident digest, the plane crashed while making a nighttime approach to runway 33R, and while flying in clouds the pilot descended below a safe altitude, causing the aircraft to crash into high ground. While the reason for the quick descent remains unknown, it is believed the pilot may have misinterpreted the reading of his altimeter as a result of fatigue and possible indisposition.[3]