So far on the grapevine is that the pilot declared a fuel emergency, had already shut down one engine and was not familiar with the Wilson Airspace - he was apparentlly an ex-military helicopter pilot. Company is a newly set up charter operation, flying a mix of old types and with a non-flying owner.
If he was already in the traffic area near Monastery, he would have been orbiting around nearer to the airport. To have crashed where he did, he was a bit out of the way. The field he put down in is also plenty big enough to have made a more survivable forced landing. Local news is reporting he spun into the ground - hence the wreck and fatalities.
If he was running out of fuel, there were other airfields on his route before Wilson that would have at least allowed him to put down safely even if he didn't get all the way back home. It just doesn't quite make sense.
Pilots - professional, amateur or expert - there have been WAAAYYY too many incidents, accidents and fatalities in Sub-saharan africa in the last few days. Please let's not have any more. Do your pre-flight, plan your route, fuel and payload, follow the rules and procedures correctly, and fly sensibly - and ABOVE ALL remember you are NOT immortal. None of us are and I think its time we all remembered this and started flying safely. Enough lives have been lost.......