B1900 missing in the congo?

[JohanKnoetze]

Grieved Dad of Deseaded Pilot - Rudi Knoetze

My son Rudi Knoetze was killed in an airplane crash in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the 1st September 2008. They were flying humanitarian aiders. The incident was covered in several newspapers and on radio in South Africa. I waited three days for the forces to remove his body from the mountain. I waited another week for his body to arrive in South Africa. The information received was that the whether was bad and that the pilots flew into a mountain. This aircraft is operated by two pilots and they flew a leg at a time. By this I mean that my son, who was also a captain on this aircraft (both pilots were captains), flew from Goma to Kisangani. At the time of the accident the other pilot (Ronnie) flew from Kisangani to Bukavu and 15km before the airport, this accident occurred.

Following from this, I have done the following:

• Obtained photos regarding the accident and studied them. I must also mention that I am not an aviation expert but, work in the Forensic Department of a large corporate institution, and the photos did not tell the same story.
• Appointed an investigator, who was at the scene of the accident to do me a report (His report reflected that there was either an explosion on board or that they were shot down by missile.
• Contacted the NTSB (Dennis Jones) in America in order to get clarity on what happened and requested the report on the black box (Flight Data Recorder) – I was told to work through the official channels and to request the South African Embassy to get the information from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• I contacted the United Nations, as 15 passengers were also killed, most of them being UN soldiers – I was told that they are not doing an investigation, which I find to be very strange.
• My son was contracted by CEMAIR, a company at Lanseria airport and they then hired the aircraft and crew to Air Serv in America. (Wet Lease) I contacted Air Serv in order to find out if they are conducting an investigation. I was told that they are also not conducting an investigation. This is also very strange to me as they were the operating company within the DRC. I obtained the contract between the Cemair and Air Serv together with the operating certificates.
• I contacted Mr. Mamoepa’s office on the 18th May 2009 and asked them for assistance. I forwarded a follow up e-mail on 2nd June 2009 and did not receive any assistance, except for acknowledgment of receipt (See e-mails below) I e-mailed his office again on the 6th July 2009 and again got conformation that the South African Embassy in Kinshasa requested the information. (See e-mail below) I have again forwarded e-mails on 7th and 8th September, but to no avail.
• I established that the aircraft voice cockpit recorder was removed and noticed from the photos that it was blanked off. However, I was told by Cemair that it was destroyed during the accident.
• I visited Civil Aviation South Africa and asked them why they did not get involve. I was told that it was not worthwhile to investigate, as all the passengers on board were dead and that it was not worthwhile to send anybody from there authority to do an investigation. It was also mentioned to me that charity begins at home at that a number of reports were outstanding. After begging them to get me the necessary information, they drew up a letter, which I had translated to French, and they forward this letter to the DRC, requesting information. They also promised me that if the information is not forthcoming, that they would send a representative to the DRC to get the information. This was only empty promises, as they promised to visit the DRC during July, again during September, but this never materializes. I find it very strange that they did not get involve from the beginning and is still reluctant to get involve 10 months later.
• [FONT='Arial','sans-serif']I appointed a second investigator to investigate the circumstances. A lot of facts were established by him, but he cannot conclude his investigation without the co-ordinates, the weather conditions (which I might receive at a cost) and most importantly the report/information on the flight data recorder.

To conclude and in view of all the facts above, I am desperate to get the report on the black box (flight data recorder information) and the report from the DRC, and will not be able to get closure on my sons death unless I know what happened. My frustration is that my son has been dead for more than a year and I cannot get the information needed. Although I followed all the official channels I also do not get any assistance from Civil Aviation South Africa, nor from the South African Embassy. I have attached some of the e-mails and will forward you the report issued by the investigator (first one) appointed by me.

Any Suggestions?????

Johan Knoetze