In 1978 and 1979 ZIPRA downed two civilian passenger planes of Air Rhodesia , killing a total of 102 passengers and crew . Air Rhodesia Flight 825 was a scheduled flight from Kariba to Salisbury that was shot down on 3 September 1978 by ZIPRA guerrillas using an SA-7 surface-to-air missile . ZIPRA leader Joshua Nkomo publicly claimed responsibility for shooting down the Hunyani on BBC television the same evening , saying the aircraft had been used for military purposes , but denied that his men had killed survivors on the ground . Eighteen of the fifty-six passengers in the Air Rhodesia plane survived the crash , with most of these having been seated in the rear . Three crash survivors who remained at the aircraft managed to avoid being killed by running away and hiding in the bush . Five months later a second plane , Air Rhodesia Flight 827 , was shot down by ZIPRA
Air Rhodesia Flight 825
Air Rhodesia Flight 825
Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army