On 19 October 1986 , Samora Machel was on his way back from an international meeting in Zambia in the presidential Tupolev Tu-134 aircraft when the plane crashed in the Lebombo Mountains near Mbuzini . There were ten survivors , but President Machel and thirty-three others died , including ministers and officials of the Mozambique government . The United Nations ' Soviet delegation issued a minority report contending that their expertise and experience had been undermined by the South Africans . Representatives of the Soviet Union advanced the theory that the plane had been intentionally diverted by a false navigational beacon signal , using a technology provided by military intelligence operatives of the South African government
plane crashed
1986 Mozambican Tupolev Tu-134 crash
Mozambique