Hawker 748 crash

[tedstriker]

AirQuarius HS 748 ZS-OJU crashed into mountains this morning at George in bad weather.
Hansie Cronje was the only pax.
Does anyone know who the crew were?
Can't take any more bad news...

[Jefferson Starship]

From the News24.co.za website.

A tragic day for SA aviation and SA sport, no matter what your personal opinion may be. Sincere condolences to all affected.

"Hansie Cronje dies in plane crash"

"Johannesburg - Former South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje has been killed in a plane crash near George. His father, Ewie, confirmed to Rapport that his son died when the cargo plane crashed in poor weather.

According to Hansie's cousin, Frans Cronje, the plane, which left Johannesburg bound for George around 04:00, was unable to land due to poor weather conditions around 06.45.

It appears the pilot then tried to go around again and in the process, the plane crashed into a mountain in the rugged Outeniqua mountains."

[the spanner]

I am sad to say that Willie Meyer was Capt at the time .
RIP

[Whenwe]

Another sad day for avaiation in South Africa.
RIP Willie and your F/O. I dont suppose Hansie's family will reading this thread. My condolonces in any case.

WW

[El Peligroso]

Sorry to hear, who was the F/O.
Did they turn the wrong way during the missed approach procedure, or was it during th arrival?:(

[C Yeager]

[COLOR=red][B]SAD!!!! SAD!!! SAD !!!!!!
Condolences to all families / ex-team mates / many friends......

It's as if Hansie had already been through the worst that life has to offer .......now this to crown it all ....

We are merely the custodians of our destiny / fate ...we definitely don't hold the full mandate ...

[C Yeager]

Apology ...I have just noticed ....my "signature" below my previous post was not probably appropriate for this thread....not intentional included ...not relevant....

[hawk-eyes]

Terrible to hear that we've lost some comrades. Does anyone know who the FO was?

[hawk-eyes]

According to an SABC report, the FO was Ian Noaks(sp?). RIP.

[trevorkd]

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Accident Investigation team arrived on the site of the Air Aquarius HS 748 accident in George on Saturday afternoon. The aircraft was conveying freight from Bloemfontein to George where it was scheduled to land at approximately 06h45 local time.

No communications was received from the aircraft after it unsuccessfully attempted to land in poor weather conditions at George.

Bad weather initially hampered the rescue efforts. The search and rescue team hence located the crash site shortly after noon and was only able to access the wreckage later by helicopter.

"The wreckage is located in extremely dangerous parts of the Outeniqua Mountain near Van Dalens Kloof. Part of the wreckage is hanging over the side of a cliff, making the recovery and accident investigation very dangerous" said the Commissioner for Civil Aviation, Mr. Trevor Abrahams.

The bodies of the two crewmembers and a passenger were recovered from the wreck. However, bad light and the precarious conditions prevented the recovery team bringing the bodies from the mountain. Currently the rescue team in conjunction with the South African Air Force are in the process of removing the bodies from the site.

The CAA accident investigators are currently also on the site. They will remain there until late this afternoon. The names of the deceased will be released once the next of kin are notified and they have been positively identified.

The CAA investigation team will proceed with further investigations to determine the probable cause of the accident, at the crash site as well as interviewing witnesses, Air traffic control and other relevant parties. The accident investigation will then focus on the aircraft, crew and operator records, autopsy reports, mechanical analysis where deemed necessary and operational analyses to develop a holistic analysis of this tragic event.

[gema]

RIP Willie Meyer,

Thanks for the 22 yrs as our neigbour. We will all miss you.

[Gunship]

My cincere condolences to the crew and Hansie's family.

I am sure we lost a great, respected crew, but I know we lost a great human being that was not without mistakes in this world, but at least he admitted his mistakes.

Was this a "daily schedule" to deliver post as I have never heard of this service before?

A 65 year old Captain ... I mean experience WAS in the cockpit ...

a sad ... sad day for SA aviation and cricket .....

:-((

[Paddle Steamer]

Sorry to hear about the accident.A few thoughts .....is George tower open at this time of the morning or is the whole operation a remote system controlled by the aircrew? I do not have my Jepp with me.If it was remote then no actual weather updates were forthcoming from the tower and this would of been a great help in determining whether to continue to give the approach a "bash"or go direct to alt.Does anyone know what the wx was like? If the tower is not open..when was the last wx obs made and was the forecast done from another met office based on automatic data. I have not flown in that part of the country for years so just wondering.

[DRIVER.AIRFRAME]

Received the following from the AVIATION SAFETY NETWORK

Date: 01 JUN 2002
Time: ca 06.45
Type: Hawker Siddeley HS-748-372 Srs. 2B
Operator: Airquarius Aviation
Registration: ZS-OJU
C/n: 1782
Year built: 1980
Engines: 2 Rolls Royce 536-2 Dart
Crew: 2 fatalities / 2 on board
Passengers: 1 fatalities / 1 on board
Total: 3 fatalities / 3 on board
Location: near George (South Africa)
Phase: Initial Approach
Nature: Freight
Departure airport: Bloemfontein International Airport (BFN)
Destination airport: George Airport (GRJ)
Remarks:
An Airquarius HS-748 plane departed Bloemfontein for a mail flight to
George around 04.00h. The crew allowed a passenger to board the flight.
Hansie Cronje, a former South African cricket captain who had missed a
South African Airlines flight. Weather was poor at George and the crew
reportedly missed their first approach. The aircraft crashed in the rugged
Outeniqua mountains at an altitude of about 1000 meters, near the Outeniqua
Pass while maneuvering for another approach. Weather conditions around the
time of the accident (05.00 GMT) were: METAR FAGG 010500Z 27014KT 6000
R29/1240V1500D -RA SCT008 BKN014 10/09 Q1023= (Wind 270deg at 14kts, Light
Rain, Scattered Clouds at 800 ft and Broken Clouds at 1400 ft.).

[Gunship]

From news24.com

Hansie's body identified, flight recorder found

George - Investigators on Sunday recovered the flight data recorder of the ill-fated aircraft which crashed into the rugged mountains near George on Saturday, killing former cricket skipper Hansie Cronje, its pilot and co-pilot, the Civil Aviation Authority said.

However, according to CAA official Andre de Kock, the search for the aircraft's voice recorder was called off on Sunday afternoon due to heavy winds. It will resume on Monday morning.

Investigators had initially wanted to retrieve all the recording equipment before Sunday's nightfall.

Hansie's body identified

Earlier in the afternoon, rescuers removed the three bodies from the mountain to the police mortuary in George where Cronje's brother identified his body, while the relatives of the other two crash victims had not yet arrived by late afternoon.

Post moterms will be conducted on Monday.

CAA spokesperson Trevor Davids said much still needed to be done to establish the probable cause of the crash.

Investigations would entail interviewing witnesses, air traffic control and other relevant parties.

The probe would then focus on the aircraft, crew and operator records, autopsy reports, mechanical investigation where necessary, and an operational analysis to develop a holistic picture of the accident.

Police spokesperson Inspector Elgin Antonie said the bodies were successfully removed around 13:00 after an exercise of nearly three hours by CAA personnel assisted by the SA Air Force.

The Air Aquarius HS 748, which was carrying freight from Bloemfontein to George, crashed into the mountain range, north of George, after not being able to land at the airport due to poor weather conditions.

Sasco

Tributes and condolences continued to pour in for Cronje on Sunday, with the SA Students Congress (Sasco) crediting the former skipper as having been an inspiration to most student cricket players.

"As Sasco, we regard him as a great cricketer who will be remembered as an indomitable leader of our country's cricket in the 90s, who served his country with distinction up-to his involvement in match-fixing," Sasco spokesperson Sicelo Mdletshe said.

"To us, he gave a good lesson on what is to be done when you have let your country down. Hence, we won't do the wrongs he did but we will do the good things he did."

[wheels up]

Was Airquarius the operator of the HS748 that crashed at Pilansburg a couple of weeks ago? I see the wreckage is sitting outside their hangar at Lanseria. They experienced hydraulic failure and left the runway at FAPN - the aircraft is a complete write off. Apparently there was a known defect in the hydraulic system before the a/c took off.

[4granted]

I also saw a wreckage outside Rossairs old hanger but that was of a G1. It crashed at Pilansberg(as well???) due to Skydrol failure. Maybe theres a bit of confusion here as to which a/c crashed at Pilansburg. As far as I know Airquarius still has the other Hawker (ZS-OLE) but I stand to be corrected. Sad day....
Condolences to all.
4g

[tedstriker]

My condolences also to families of crew & Hansie.

It was ZS-OLE (AirQuarius 748) that left the runway at Pilanesburg because of hydraulic failure. Wreckage sits outside the old Rossair hangar.
The G1 (ZS-NHW?) is still up and running...

[126.9]

So sad on all fronts.

[gema]

To all who flew/trained with him,

The funeral of Willie Meyer takes place on
Friday 7 June
10:00 local SA
NG Kerk
Rietfontein Road
Boksburg

RIP

[the spanner]

Don't you guys find it sad that all you hear is Hansie , Hansie , Hansie ? What about the familly's of the pilots that are left out of the picture. The media can sometimes stink !!! Bastads !!!
:mad: :mad: :mad:

[CAACHIEF]

Virtually all pilots I have come accross cannot resist the temptation to speculate as to the causes of aviation accidents. In some respect this is natural as we all mentally try to understand something we would want to avoid.

However I cannot, understand why professionally trained pilots join in the media frenzy of "expert opinions" which try to guess, often on partial information at best, what caused an accident. All pilots should understand that most accidents have a complex chain of events and simplistic and worse still,hoplessly misinformed scenarios, only does our industry more harm than good.

Having visited the crash site in George on Saturday afternoon and monitored the progress of the CAA investigation, I cannot but be struck by the sheer insensitivity towards our fallen colleagues (the Cpt previously worked for the CAA) exhibited by a number of aviators which offered their "expertise" to the media in the latter's rush to get a scoop on the causes of this accident.

This accident is both sad for the resultant loss of life and the puzzling circumstances around the aircrafts trajectory into the mountains. The FDR, CVR and GPS have been recovered and will hopefully yield information with which we can reconstruct the final moments of this flight more accurately.

Until then, could fellow aviators at least allow their former colleagues to be buried in peace without their contributions to the uninformed media speculation.

[freightboss]

CAAChief

Touche, you hit it right on the button...

My condolences to the families who have lost beloved ones...

[Gunship]

CAACHIEF,

Could not have said it better ....

Lessons can and will be learned AGAIN about the accident .. but the media speculation (and the "who will be invited to Hansie's funeral saga") is SICK !!!

After flying 25 years and 7000 hours I had the misfortune of loosing a pax in a double engine cut in an aircraft that CAN NOT fly on one engine even when it is light.

In the beginning all was ok and I was the national hero but now - Media speculation and fellow aviators (so called friends) starts rumours and specualtions that will drive anybody insane.

Two Board of Inquiries (one by British Mil Specialists) get's overturned by the media ... is this right ???

I feel for the families .... please let it sink in before we speculate again !

[V1 Rotate]

I had the pleasure of having dealings with Willie Meyer on a few occasions. He was a great guy and a true gentleman.

RIP Willie,
V1 Rotate

[the spanner]

The funeral service for Ian (Neddy) Noakes will be held on Tuesday 11 June 2002 at 14h00 in the Methodist Church, Cresta road, Sunward Park

Neddy, you have just changed your metal wings for feathered ones.........

[4granted]

Hey Neddy
Took me a while....
Go well my friend

We gonna miss you.

g

[seadancer]

RIP Willy and Neddy - we will miss you both.

GENTLEMEN! ................. they both were!

I had the honour of flying many hours on the HS 748, on that route with Willy - It just does not add up - As my captain he would ALLWAYS make sure the "let-down and go-around" was briefed - not once but twice into, as he called the, "Killers" (GEORGE, PMB, MATSAPA, PILANSBURG and ULUNDI).

:(
He would always say " Man those stones are VERY hard and Very HIGH - " (always followed with a typical Willy Meyer joke or story of an experience in his 20 000 hrs). (........those stories WILL save my life one day................a wealth of information...that only experience can teach a man).

WILLY MEYER is a legend. and will stay with us 4ever.

Willy and Neddy : what every happend - WHO KNOWs? - But I know that you guys would have tried your best. (Something increadably out of this world must have happened that morning, to have caused the crash??????????????????)

You were both fine men (Officers and gentlemen) and will be missed by aviation and your families.

RIP

Your Friend

:(

[126.9]

You know, reading this post alongside all the rest on the Africa forum brings home a fact: us African okes care about our mates big time! We do our best not to slag them off, and we talk of their good points when they're gone. In 1994 on July 23rd, I lost a good mate in an aircraft accident in the Zambezi Valley. I miss him that much that I've named my son after him.

What I read in some of the other forums on PPRuNe doesn't even warrant much talk here. I'm just proud to be one of us. I knew Willie but not Neddy. I'm sure glad though that they had mates like us.

Rest well guys! You'll be missed something huge!

[4HolerPoler]

Cashing in on the Hansie crash

Even in death, cricket's fallen hero remains bankable as businessman plans an extraordinary memorial using plane's wreckage. EDWIN LOMBARD

A BUSINESSMAN is planning a bizarre memorial to Hansie Cronjé - the wreckage of the plane he died in, arranged on fake mountain rocks, at his new R100-million shopping complex. And he is planning to charge the public to look at the mangled fuselage of the plane, which crashed into a George mountainside in June.


Cronjé's parents said this week that they were in the dark about the plans. Businessman Leon Dorfling has spent "several hundred thousand rands" recovering the wreckage of the Hawker Siddeley 748 freighter aircraft in which Cronjé died. Cronjé's father, Ewie, said Dorfling had promised to call to arrange a meeting with the family after initially speaking to Hansie's mother, San-Marie, last Friday about his plans. "I don't have any idea about his plans. I haven't seen them. We can't say anything on the wreckage because it doesn't belong to us," Cronjé snr said. The family had not agreed or disagreed to the museum idea yet, he said. But he indicated they were planning their own memorial - an indoor sports centre for the disabled in George.

Dorfling said he did not need the family's permission for the museum. Nevertheless, he claimed Cronjé's widow, Bertha, had given her blessing through her lawyer, Leslie Sackstein.
However, Sackstein said his discussion with Dorfling had only to do with the removal of the wreckage from the mountain.

"He phoned me and said do I have any objection to him taking the wreckage off. I said: 'The wreckage is not ours, we can't stop you.' He asked what would Bertha's attitude be and when I spoke to Bertha and mentioned it to her, she said yes. "He said he wanted to put up a little memorial in George and I said: 'I can't stop you.' "

Sackstein said it was the first time he had heard of Dorfling's shopping-mall plan and described it as "absolutely dreadful" and "bizarre". Sackstein said the Cronjé family, including Bertha, would never agree to Dorfling's plans. Bertha Cronjé could not be reached for comment. Dorfling said that although he had never met the cricketer, he was a cricket enthusiast and Cronjé fan.
"The wreckage will be displayed just as it lay on the mountain. We will use fake rocks and possibly a small statue of Hansie. Nothing that will offend the family," he said.

He has acquired an old factory complex in Mossel Bay on which he plans to build a shopping mall with 168 shops, a gym , a swimming pool and cinemas. He said part of the experience would be a visit to the museum where fans could pay homage to their hero. "This is an Afrikaans-speaking community and Hansie was Afrikaans-speaking, so they will visit the museum," said Dorfling. George's mayor, Marius Swart, said he was in favour of the museum but found "the shopping-mall part a bit much".

Herschelle Gibbs, who was Cronjé's close friend, said he also supported the idea of a museum and had no objections to fans being charged an entrance fee to view the wreckage.

"If they can do it for Elvis Presley, why not?" he said.

[Gunship]

I sincerely hope you are COMPLETELY wrong. He was a regular "jumpseater" .. that is a fact. :o