Latest - not so sure on the "experts" - doesn't say who they are. Brian's a top bloke but he doesn't strike me as an expert.
Experts believe that the small plane that crashed on Tuesday in the southern Drakensberg, killing all three people on board, should not have been flying at all. The pilot, Raymond Gleimus, his mother Yvonne Smith and a passenger, Johan Nel, were found dead in the mountains after their aircraft crashed. They were flying back to Bloemfontein from Durban, a trip that was scheduled for Monday, but was postponed due to bad weather. But experts believe it was not safe to fly on Tuesday, either. The wreckage of the plane was found on rock 8 000 feet above sea level - and the freezing level on that day was 8 000 feet.
Glemius, a businessman and keen pilot, had flown two employees of his aircraft maintenance business to Durban on Monday to attend a course. He dropped off his friend and business partner Hentie Kruger in Bethlehem and picked up Nel there. Smith, who had visited her brother in Pietermaritzburg, was also on the plane for the return flight on Tuesday. The plane took off from Cato Ridge on Tuesday at 12:23 and should have landed at Tempe in Bloemfontein by 14:00. Brian Emmenis, well-known in aviation circles, said a student pilot heard an emergency signal from a Beechcraft on the radio on Tuesday. At about 16:00 there were rumours that a plane had crashed at Bultfontein, but the police could not confirm this. Shortly afterwards there was confirmation that Gleimius's plane was missing and a large-scale search was planned, but thwarted by the bad weather in the Natal Midlands, said Jeff Gaisford of KwaZulu-Natal Ezemvelo Wildlife. Later there was a message that a forestry worker had heard a loud bang in the mountains near Monk's Cowl.
The South African Search and Rescue Organisation (Sasar) and Aeronautical Rescue Co-ordination Centre (ARCC) in Johannesburg was alerted after the airplane failed to arrive at its destination. According to Sasar spokesperson Santjie White, the wreckage was located shortly after the commencement of the aerial search. Following the discovery of the bodies, White said the matter was handed to the police and the South African Civil Aviation Authority Accident Investigation Section. Police spokesperson superintendent Zandra Hector said the wreckage of the plane was found at 08:00 on Wednesday. The plane was found near Rhino's Peak in the southern Drakensberg. Part of the plane had been burnt. Hector said members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) retrieved the bodies from the mountain. She could not give details of the injuries but confirmed that they were severely battered. Hector said the cause of the crash has not been established. She said an investigation on the cause is under way. "We are not sure if the crash was caused by a mechanical problem or bad weather, but we are investigating the matter," she said. Nel, who owned businesses in the goldfields, is survived by his attorney wife Marlien and little daughter Leré. Marlien is about eight months' pregnant with their second child. Gleimius, winner of the 2003 President's Cup Air Race and an experienced pilot, was not married.
4HP