‘Crash of the Buffalo’
Tragic crash sparks a new national soccer team
In New York in 1993, journalist Jay Mwamba couldn’t have physically been farther from the African nations of Zambia and Gabon, but emotionally, he could not have been closer when he learned the news. A plane carrying the optimistic Zambian national soccer team, bound for the World Cup qualifying match in Senegal, had crashed in the waters off Gabon’s coast — killing 18 players, the coach, the support staff, and the plane’s crew.
Mwamba — with close personal connections to team, members, staff and even one of the pilots of the doomed aircraft — has penned “Crash of the Buffalo,” a 2023 book that covers “the tragedy, its aftermath, and the incredible resilience and determination of a nation to rebuild and honor the memories of its fallen heroes.” Amazingly, the rebuilt team rebounded from the extreme sadness about the lives lost in the disaster and defeated a strong team from Morocco just 10 weeks after the crash. And the new Zambian team made it all the way to the final of the 1994 African Cup of Nations — just a year after the tragedy.
“Despite losing the cream of Zambian football, Zambia remarkably rebounded from that horrific disaster immediately,” Mwamba said. “When the world expected them to drop out of the World Cup and Africa Cup qualifiers, they closed ranks, rebuilt a new team. Remarkably, they came from behind to defeat Morocco, a perennial African powerhouse. This is 10 weeks after the crash!”
Back in 1993, Mwamba was in New York studying at City College when he got the awful news that Zambia had lost its soccer team, and he lost some personal acquaintances.
“I’d left Zambia in January 1989 to further my education after working as a sports reporter with the Zambia Daily Mail, which at that time was one of two daily Zambian papers,” said Mwamba.
“I knew most of the players, the two coaches, and the chairman of the Football Association of Zambia [FAZ], who was the delegation leader on that fateful trip. I even knew one of the Zambia Air Force pilots flying the doomed Canadian-built Buffalo transport plane. During my time as a sports reporter in Zambia, I had traveled with some of the players in the line of duty — albeit on commercial planes.”
As a Zambian and a former sports reporter who was acquainted with several of the team’s players and coaches, Mwamba was aware of the national team’s standing with FIFA (the sports international governing body) before the crash, and said their World Cup chances looked very good.
“Exactly a week before the crash, I’d spoken on the phone with Kalusha Bwalya, the Zambia national team captain, who was one of a few European-based Zambian players then,” Mwamba recalled. “He told me about the forthcoming game with Senegal, the first in a round-robin threeteam playoff that also included Morocco. The group winner would qualify for the 1994 World Cup to be hosted by the United States. Zambia was the form team [due for probable success], and favorites to win the group and qualify for U.S.A. ‘94.
“I wished him good luck and told him to say hi to the coaches, Godfrey Chitalu and Alex Chola. I told Kalusha to tell them that I was looking forward to meeting them at the World Cup here in the U.S., in summer 1994. That’s how confident I and many were of Zambia qualifying.” Bwalya said he planned to fly from Europe to Dakar, the Senegalese capital, to meet Zambian team. Chitalu and Chola, Zambia’s leading goal scorers, both died in the crash.
“That’s a story that needed to be told,” said Mwamba. “It’s an incredible story on any level, so I wanted the current and future generations of the soccer universe to know about this story — a tragic and sad story that ends with a strong dose of inspiration.”
“Crash of the Buffalo” can be purchased at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other retail book outlets.