1974 Togo presidential C-47 crash

On 24 January 1974, a Togo Air Force Douglas C-47 Skytrain carrying several notable political figures crashed at an isolated location near the village of Sarakawa in northern Togo. Gnassingbé Eyadéma, the President of Togo, was on board the aircraft, which was flying from Lomé to his native village, Pya. As the C-47 descended for landing, it crashed near Sarakawa. Eyadéma survived, but his French pilot and all three other passengers died.

Eyadéma claimed the aircraft had been sabotaged after he had reneged on an agreement with a French company over the use of a phosphate mine. Eyadéma attributed his survival to mystical powers and declared 24 January to be "Economic Liberation Day." Eyadéma even changed his first name from Étienne to Gnassingbé to remember the date of the day he survived the crash.