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 Zambezi ( in Zambia ) , the resort had endured as one of Rhodesia 's choice tourist destinations . The flight on 3 September 1978 , Sunday afternoon , from Kariba to Salisbury carried four crew members and 52 passengers , most of whom were holidaymakers from Salisbury , returning home after a weekend at the lake . The flight took off from Kariba Airport on schedule soon after 17 : 00 Central Africa Time .