ZS-DFB   Douglas DC-3                                                       (c/n 12414)

                             

                                  Tropic Airways was a South African charter company founded in 1951.     It only had two
                                  aircraft, the DC-3 seen above in this shot by Will Blunt, and an Avro York ZS-DGN (q.v.).
                                  ZS-DFB was the former RAF Dakota IV KG384.      It was civilianized and acquired by
                                  Tropic Airways in 1951 who conducted flights to Europe (generally Amsterdam) from
                                  Jo'burg.   On 27 July 1952, whilst on a flight from Amsterdam to Johannesburg, the DC-3
                                  evidently lost engine power and ditched into the Mediterranean Sea some 160 km off
                                  Benghazi, Libya.  Fortunately all 32 passengers and crew were rescued by a US Navy SA-16
                                  Albatross, and subsequently transferred to Royal Navy ships..