ANLA attacked Altena and Whistlefield Farms in north @-@ eastern Rhodesia .   After the security forces mounted a successful counter @-@ insurgency campaign during 1973 and 1974 , developments overseas caused the conflict 's momentum to shift in the insurgents ' favour . The leftist Carnation Revolution of April 1974 caused Portugal to withdraw its key economic support for Smith 's administration , and led to Mozambique 's independence the following year as a communist state openly allied with ZANU . Around the same time , Rhodesia 's other main backer , South Africa , adopted a détente initiative that forced a ceasefire , giving the guerrillas time to regroup . Following the abortive Victoria Falls Conference of August 1975 , Smith and the ZAPU leader Joshua Nkomo held unsuccessful talks between December 1975 and March 1976 . ZANU and ZAPU announced in October 1976 , during the run @-@ up to the unsuccessful Geneva Conference in December , that they would henceforth attend conferences as a joint " Patriotic Front " .   In March 1978 , Smith and non @-@ militant nationalist groups headed by Bishop Abel Muzorewa , the Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole and Chief Jeremiah Chirau agreed what became the " Internal Settlement " . This created a joint black – white transitional government , with the country due to be reconstituted as Zimbabwe Rhodesia in June 1979 , pursuant to multiracial elections . ZANU and ZAPU were invited to participate , but refused ; Nkomo sardonically dubbed Smith 's black colleagues " the blacksmiths " . ZANU proclaimed 1978 to be " The Year of the People " as the war continued . Officials from Muzorewa 's United African National Council , sent to the provinces to explain the Internal Settlement to rural blacks , were killed by Marxist – Leninist guerrillas . Insurgents also began to target Christian missionaries , climaxing in the killing of nine British missionaries and four children at Elim Mission near the Mozambican border on 23 June .   The transitional government was badly received abroad , partly because the Internal Settlement kept control of law enforcement , the military , the judiciary and the civil service under white control . No country recognised Rhodesia 's interim administration . Smith again worked to bring Nkomo into the government , hoping this would lend it some credence domestically , prompt diplomatic recognition overseas , and help the security forces defeat ZANLA . Starting on 14 August 1978 , he attended secret meetings with Nkomo in Lusaka , Zambia ( where ZAPU was based ) , doing so with the assistance of the mining corporation Lonrho . Attempts were made to also involve the ZANU leader Robert Mugabe , but Mugabe would have no part in the talks . According to the South African military historian Jakkie Cilliers , negotiations between Smith and Nkomo progressed well and " seemed on the verge of success " by the start of September 1978 . On 2 September , Smith and Nkomo revealed publicly that the secret meetings had taken place .   = = Incident = =   = = = Prior threats to Rhodesian air traffic = = =   Rhodesian air traffic was not seriously threatened until about 1977 , in the latter stages of the war ; before this time , neither revolutionary force had the weapons to launch a viable attack against an aerial target . The weapon that made such attacks feasible for ZIPRA was the Strela 2 shoulder @-@ launched surface @-@ to @-@ air missile launcher , supplied by the Soviet Union from the mid @-@ 1970s as part of the Warsaw Pact 's materiel support . By September 1978 , there had been 20 reported attempts to shoot down Rhodesian military aircraft using these weapons , none of which had been successful . Some Rhodesian Air Force Dakotas had been hit , but all had survived and landed safely . No civilian aircraft had yet been targeted during the Bush War .   = = = Flight = = =   Air Rhodesia was the country 's national airline , established by the government on 1 September 1967 to succeed Central African Airways , which was dissolved at the end of that year . Based at Salisbury Airport , Air Rhodesia 's flight network during the late 1970s comprised a domestic programme of passenger and cargo flights , as well as international services to the South African cities of Johannesburg and Durban .   The Flight 825 aircraft was a Vickers Viscount 782D , a British @-@ made turboprop aircraft with two engines on each wing . It was named the Hunyani after the river of the same name , which flowed between Lake Kariba and the Rhodesian capital Salisbury .   The Hunyani was on the second and final leg of its regular scheduled journey between Victoria Falls and Salisbury , stopping over in the resort town of Kariba . Despite the occasional rocket and mortar attacks launched on Kariba by ZIPRA guerrillas on the northern side of the
AN LA Ġattacked ĠAl ten a Ġand ĠWh istle field ĠFarms Ġin Ġnorth Ġ@ - @ Ġeastern ĠRhodes ia Ġ. Ġ Ġ ĠAfter Ġthe Ġsecurity Ġforces Ġmounted Ġa Ġsuccessful Ġcounter Ġ@ - @ Ġinsurgency Ġcampaign Ġduring Ġ1973 Ġand Ġ1974 Ġ, Ġdevelopments Ġoverseas Ġcaused Ġthe Ġconflict Ġ' s Ġmomentum Ġto Ġshift Ġin Ġthe Ġinsurgents Ġ' Ġfavour Ġ. ĠThe Ġleftist ĠCarn ation ĠRevolution Ġof ĠApril Ġ1974 Ġcaused ĠPortugal Ġto Ġwithdraw Ġits Ġkey Ġeconomic Ġsupport Ġfor ĠSmith Ġ' s Ġadministration Ġ, Ġand Ġled Ġto ĠMoz amb ique Ġ' s Ġindependence Ġthe Ġfollowing Ġyear Ġas Ġa Ġcommunist Ġstate Ġopenly Ġallied Ġwith ĠZ AN U Ġ. ĠAround Ġthe Ġsame Ġtime Ġ, ĠRhodes ia Ġ' s Ġother Ġmain Ġbacker Ġ, ĠSouth ĠAfrica Ġ, Ġadopted Ġa Ġd Ã©t ente Ġinitiative Ġthat Ġforced Ġa Ġceasefire Ġ, Ġgiving Ġthe Ġgu err illas Ġtime Ġto Ġreg roup Ġ. ĠFollowing Ġthe Ġabort ive ĠVictoria ĠFalls ĠConference Ġof ĠAugust Ġ1975 Ġ, ĠSmith Ġand Ġthe ĠZ AP U Ġleader ĠJoshua ĠN k omo Ġheld Ġunsuccessful Ġtalks Ġbetween ĠDecember Ġ1975 Ġand ĠMarch Ġ1976 Ġ. ĠZ AN U Ġand ĠZ AP U Ġannounced Ġin ĠOctober Ġ1976 Ġ, Ġduring Ġthe Ġrun Ġ@ - @ Ġup Ġto Ġthe Ġunsuccessful ĠGeneva ĠConference Ġin ĠDecember Ġ, Ġthat Ġthey Ġwould Ġhence forth Ġattend Ġconferences Ġas Ġa Ġjoint Ġ" ĠPatri otic ĠFront Ġ" Ġ. Ġ Ġ ĠIn ĠMarch Ġ1978 Ġ, ĠSmith Ġand Ġnon Ġ@ - @ Ġmilitant Ġnationalist Ġgroups Ġheaded Ġby ĠBishop ĠAbel ĠMu z ore wa Ġ, Ġthe ĠReverend ĠN d ab aning i ĠSith ole Ġand ĠChief ĠJeremiah ĠCh ir au Ġagreed Ġwhat Ġbecame Ġthe Ġ" ĠInternal ĠSettlement Ġ" Ġ. ĠThis Ġcreated Ġa Ġjoint Ġblack ĠâĢĵ Ġwhite Ġtransitional Ġgovernment Ġ, Ġwith Ġthe Ġcountry Ġdue Ġto Ġbe Ġrecon st it uted Ġas ĠZimbabwe ĠRhodes ia Ġin ĠJune Ġ1979 Ġ, Ġpursuant Ġto Ġmult ir acial Ġelections Ġ. ĠZ AN U Ġand ĠZ AP U Ġwere Ġinvited Ġto Ġparticipate Ġ, Ġbut Ġrefused Ġ; ĠN k omo Ġs ardon ically Ġdubbed ĠSmith Ġ' s Ġblack Ġcolleagues Ġ" Ġthe Ġblack smith s Ġ" Ġ. ĠZ AN U Ġproclaimed Ġ1978 Ġto Ġbe Ġ" ĠThe ĠYear Ġof Ġthe ĠPeople Ġ" Ġas Ġthe Ġwar Ġcontinued Ġ. ĠOfficials Ġfrom ĠMu z ore wa Ġ' s ĠUnited ĠAfrican ĠNational ĠCouncil Ġ, Ġsent Ġto Ġthe Ġprovinces Ġto Ġexplain Ġthe ĠInternal ĠSettlement Ġto Ġrural Ġblacks Ġ, Ġwere Ġkilled Ġby ĠMarxist ĠâĢĵ ĠLenin ist Ġgu err illas Ġ. ĠIns urg ents Ġalso Ġbegan Ġto Ġtarget ĠChristian Ġmissionaries Ġ, Ġclimax ing Ġin Ġthe Ġkilling Ġof Ġnine ĠBritish Ġmissionaries Ġand Ġfour Ġchildren Ġat ĠElim ĠMission Ġnear Ġthe ĠMoz amb ican Ġborder Ġon Ġ23 ĠJune Ġ. Ġ Ġ ĠThe Ġtransitional Ġgovernment Ġwas Ġbadly Ġreceived Ġabroad Ġ, Ġpartly Ġbecause Ġthe ĠInternal ĠSettlement Ġkept Ġcontrol Ġof Ġlaw Ġenforcement Ġ, Ġthe Ġmilitary Ġ, Ġthe Ġjudiciary Ġand Ġthe Ġcivil Ġservice Ġunder Ġwhite Ġcontrol Ġ. ĠNo Ġcountry Ġrecognised ĠRhodes ia Ġ' s Ġinterim Ġadministration Ġ. ĠSmith Ġagain Ġworked Ġto Ġbring ĠN k omo Ġinto Ġthe Ġgovernment Ġ, Ġhoping Ġthis Ġwould Ġlend Ġit Ġsome Ġcred ence Ġdomestically Ġ, Ġprompt Ġdiplomatic Ġrecognition Ġoverseas Ġ, Ġand Ġhelp Ġthe Ġsecurity Ġforces Ġdefeat ĠZ AN LA Ġ. ĠStarting Ġon Ġ14 ĠAugust Ġ1978 Ġ, Ġhe Ġattended Ġsecret Ġmeetings Ġwith ĠN k omo Ġin ĠL us aka Ġ, ĠZamb ia Ġ( Ġwhere ĠZ AP U Ġwas Ġbased Ġ) Ġ, Ġdoing Ġso Ġwith Ġthe Ġassistance Ġof Ġthe Ġmining Ġcorporation ĠLon r ho Ġ. ĠAttempt s Ġwere Ġmade Ġto Ġalso Ġinvolve Ġthe ĠZ AN U Ġleader ĠRobert ĠMug abe Ġ, Ġbut ĠMug abe Ġwould Ġhave Ġno Ġpart Ġin Ġthe Ġtalks Ġ. ĠAccording Ġto Ġthe ĠSouth ĠAfrican Ġmilitary Ġhistorian ĠJak kie ĠC ill iers Ġ, Ġnegotiations Ġbetween ĠSmith Ġand ĠN k omo Ġprogressed Ġwell Ġand Ġ" Ġseemed Ġon Ġthe Ġverge Ġof Ġsuccess Ġ" Ġby Ġthe Ġstart Ġof ĠSeptember Ġ1978 Ġ. ĠOn Ġ2 ĠSeptember Ġ, ĠSmith Ġand ĠN k omo Ġrevealed Ġpublicly Ġthat Ġthe Ġsecret Ġmeetings Ġhad Ġtaken Ġplace Ġ. Ġ Ġ Ġ= Ġ= ĠIncident Ġ= Ġ= Ġ Ġ Ġ= Ġ= Ġ= ĠPrior Ġthreats Ġto ĠRhodes ian Ġair Ġtraffic Ġ= Ġ= Ġ= Ġ Ġ ĠRhodes ian Ġair Ġtraffic Ġwas Ġnot Ġseriously Ġthreatened Ġuntil Ġabout Ġ1977 Ġ, Ġin Ġthe Ġlatter Ġstages Ġof Ġthe Ġwar Ġ; Ġbefore Ġthis Ġtime Ġ, Ġneither Ġrevolutionary Ġforce Ġhad Ġthe Ġweapons Ġto Ġlaunch Ġa Ġviable Ġattack Ġagainst Ġan Ġaerial Ġtarget Ġ. ĠThe Ġweapon Ġthat Ġmade Ġsuch Ġattacks Ġfeasible Ġfor ĠZIP RA Ġwas Ġthe ĠSt rel a Ġ2 Ġshoulder Ġ@ - @ Ġlaunched Ġsurface Ġ@ - @ Ġto Ġ@ - @ Ġair Ġmissile Ġlauncher Ġ, Ġsupplied Ġby Ġthe ĠSoviet ĠUnion Ġfrom Ġthe Ġmid Ġ@ - @ Ġ1970 s Ġas Ġpart Ġof Ġthe ĠWarsaw ĠPact Ġ' s Ġmater iel Ġsupport Ġ. ĠBy ĠSeptember Ġ1978 Ġ, Ġthere Ġhad Ġbeen Ġ20 Ġreported Ġattempts Ġto Ġshoot Ġdown ĠRhodes ian Ġmilitary Ġaircraft Ġusing Ġthese Ġweapons Ġ, Ġnone Ġof Ġwhich Ġhad Ġbeen Ġsuccessful Ġ. ĠSome ĠRhodes ian ĠAir ĠForce ĠDak ot as Ġhad Ġbeen Ġhit Ġ, Ġbut Ġall Ġhad Ġsurvived Ġand Ġlanded Ġsafely Ġ. ĠNo Ġcivilian Ġaircraft Ġhad Ġyet Ġbeen Ġtargeted Ġduring Ġthe ĠBush ĠWar Ġ. Ġ Ġ Ġ= Ġ= Ġ= ĠFlight Ġ= Ġ= Ġ= Ġ Ġ ĠAir ĠRhodes ia Ġwas Ġthe Ġcountry Ġ' s Ġnational Ġairline Ġ, Ġestablished Ġby Ġthe Ġgovernment Ġon Ġ1 ĠSeptember Ġ1967 Ġto Ġsucceed ĠCentral ĠAfrican ĠAirways Ġ, Ġwhich Ġwas Ġdissolved Ġat Ġthe Ġend Ġof Ġthat Ġyear Ġ. ĠBased Ġat ĠSal isbury ĠAirport Ġ, ĠAir ĠRhodes ia Ġ' s Ġflight Ġnetwork Ġduring Ġthe Ġlate Ġ1970 s Ġcomprised Ġa Ġdomestic Ġprogramme Ġof Ġpassenger Ġand Ġcargo Ġflights Ġ, Ġas Ġwell Ġas Ġinternational Ġservices Ġto Ġthe ĠSouth ĠAfrican Ġcities Ġof ĠJohannes burg Ġand ĠDur ban Ġ. Ġ Ġ ĠThe ĠFlight Ġ8 25 Ġaircraft Ġwas Ġa ĠV ickers ĠV isc ount Ġ7 82 D Ġ, Ġa ĠBritish Ġ@ - @ Ġmade Ġturb op rop Ġaircraft Ġwith Ġtwo Ġengines Ġon Ġeach Ġwing Ġ. ĠIt Ġwas Ġnamed Ġthe ĠHun y ani Ġafter Ġthe Ġriver Ġof Ġthe Ġsame Ġname Ġ, Ġwhich Ġflowed Ġbetween ĠLake ĠKar iba Ġand Ġthe ĠRhodes ian Ġcapital ĠSal isbury Ġ. Ġ Ġ ĠThe ĠHun y ani Ġwas Ġon Ġthe Ġsecond Ġand Ġfinal Ġleg Ġof Ġits Ġregular Ġscheduled Ġjourney Ġbetween ĠVictoria ĠFalls Ġand ĠSal isbury Ġ, Ġstopping Ġover Ġin Ġthe Ġresort Ġtown Ġof ĠKar iba Ġ. ĠDespite Ġthe Ġoccasional Ġrocket Ġand Ġmortar Ġattacks Ġlaunched Ġon ĠKar iba Ġby ĠZIP RA Ġgu err illas Ġon Ġthe Ġnorthern Ġside Ġof Ġthe