MOURNING OF THE FLLEN HEROES CONTINUES 17 YEARS DOWN THE LINE - APRIL 28, 1993 - APRIL 28, 2010

FAZ CHIEF, MINISTER LEAD GABON MEMORIAL - Wednesday, April 28, 2010 Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) President, Kalusha Bwalya and Deputy Sports Minister Maynard Misapa are leading hundreds of Zambians in commemorating the 17th anniversary of the Gabon air crash. The ceremonies are taking place at the Heroes site at the Independence Stadium in Lusaka. What has come to be known as the Gabon Disaster happened April 28 1993 shortly after the Military plane the Zambia national soccer team was using to fly to a 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Senegal. Shortly after a refueling stop in Libreville on their way to Senegal for a 1994 World Cup qualifier, the Buffalo went down killing all on board. Zambia’s darkest hour!!! An official report into the 1993 plane crash blamed a mechanical fault in the left engine. The first report, released - 10 years after the national tragedy indicated that then the pilots switched off the still functioning right engine by mistake because of a "poor indicator light bulb" causing the plane to lose all power and crash. The report, released in parliament by then Vice President Nevers Mumba, said that the loss of power and lift indicated the failure of both engines but said the government may have wished to have this confirmed it by experts. THE OFFICIAL REPORT The report also said that the pilot was tired, having just flown back from Mauritius the previous day. The Zambian national football team had to play a World cup qualification match against the Senegal national team. The DHC-5 Buffalo, AF-319, had not been flying from December 21, 1992 to April 21, 1993 so test flights were carried out on April 22 and April 26. The Buffalo departed Lusaka, for Dakar with planned intermediate stops at Brazzaville, Libreville and Abidjan. After refueling at Libreville, the aircraft took-off at 22:44 hours, one hour and 45 minutes late. See About FAZ section for more details on the Gabon Disaster Speech delivered by FAZ President Kalusha Bwalya to mark the occasion of the 17th anniversary of the Gabon air crash.

Wednesday 28 April 2010. The Honourable Deputy Minister of Sport, Youth and Child Development, Ministry officials, Government officials, National Sports Council of Zambia officials Executive Committee members of the Football Association of Zambia Representatives from other sports associations Dear colleagues of immediate families of our heroes Representatives of clubs and associations Soccer fans Members of the Zambian football community Members of the press Dear friends On this day 17 years ago, we were recipients of news of the passing away of our gallant men for whom we gather to remember. Like we have assembled today from all walks of life; from different fields and undertakings, so we received that news those many years ago. And today, we recollect that day because the memories of events that followed the news of their tragic death will remain embedded in our lives and history forever. We mourned their passing. At the dawn of a new millennium, we honour them because they ran a good a race; we honour them because they were great ambassadors for this great country, for Africa and for the game; we honour them because they died for a cause which is so dear not only to us but the whole world. That is why after that tragic plane crash, we all held our own and carried on from where they left off. That was the best way to honour their memory and keeps their dreams alive; dreams which we shall continue to pass on from one generation to another because of our great soccer heritage. Hon Deputy Minister, Ladies and gentlemen, as we honour them, we celebrate their achievements because they went out to serve us and the nation as distinguished players and eminent ambassadors. Since then, our football has moved along with the rest of the world, scoring many notable achievements both on and off the field. And those successes trace their roots to our collective hard work, professionalism and the work that our heroes did. There is no one who can write our football history or indeed that of our nation without a mention of those noble men. Dear friends, Going forward, the challenge is for us to continue working hard and ensure that the professionalism and successes we have been scoring continue into the future. We are alive to fact that as time passes and the years roll-by, new innovations and developments will come into the game. That is why over the years, the Football Association of Zambia has stated its desire and proposal to review our focus of annual commemorations. We therefore wish to reaffirm our desire to consult widely on that new proposition. Working together, we will open a new leaf in that regard.

I am sure that the coming year or two should pave the way for that and ultimately implementation of those proposals especially as we go towards the 20th anniversary mark. Hon Deputy Minister, dear friends, I thank you for attention. God bless you all.