Aircraft Crash At Somerset West/ Vergelegen Estate
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Interavia I-3 (PHAROS) accident
Just heard that the Interavia I-3 in PHAROS colours has had a fatal accident at Vergelegen near Somerset West. It was its usual pilot flying it. Rumour I have is the wing came off.
Condolences to the family…very sad.
Condolences to the family…very sad.
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Sad news .. less tan 500 m from my house 
A plane crashed onto Vergelegen, the historic farm, outside Somerset West in the Western Cape late on Tuesday afternoon, emergency services personnel said.
"I can only confirm that there was a plane crash," said Johan Schutte of the emergency and rescue services in Somerset West.
It is not yet known if there were any fatalities or what caused the crash, but a civil aviation investigation was underway.
Vergelegen dates to the governorship of Willem Adriaan van der Stel in the 17th Century.
A helicopter crashed in Vereeniging, Johannesburg, on Tuesday afternoon less than 24 hours after a pilot was killed after his helicopter crashed into a house in Benoni on the East Rand. - Sapa
"I can only confirm that there was a plane crash," said Johan Schutte of the emergency and rescue services in Somerset West.
It is not yet known if there were any fatalities or what caused the crash, but a civil aviation investigation was underway.
Vergelegen dates to the governorship of Willem Adriaan van der Stel in the 17th Century.
A helicopter crashed in Vereeniging, Johannesburg, on Tuesday afternoon less than 24 hours after a pilot was killed after his helicopter crashed into a house in Benoni on the East Rand. - Sapa
Sad I3 Crash
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I do not know the plane type (then again I am bad enough to distinguish between a LearJet and a NearJet ...
But a Google search came up with this one ... is that it ?
Courtesy to African Pilot Mag
But a Google search came up with this one ... is that it ?
Courtesy to African Pilot Mag
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Yes that is the aircraft…it was based at Stellenbosch where it had been assembled last year.
The sad fact is that it was on Vergelegen that Peter Celliers and his son died while doing aerobatics.
Sad news…2 families have lost loved ones.
The sad fact is that it was on Vergelegen that Peter Celliers and his son died while doing aerobatics.
Sad news…2 families have lost loved ones.
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Aircraft Crash At Som West
Was not at work today, but heard via the grapevine that a light aircrft doing aerobatics over the Velgelegen area, broke up in flight and the 2 crew were killed on impact.
NO names yet, but it seems like the aircraft dep ex FASH, but was originally from George, with the owner on board and an SAA pilot with him.
Very distressing news - this is the second fatal accident in recent years in that area.
WIth som many experimental aircraft, aerobatic aircraft and ex-SAAF Harvards, never mind ThunderCity, one hopes that such accidents will not happen. BUt they seem to be a fact of life.
To the crew : RIP
NO names yet, but it seems like the aircraft dep ex FASH, but was originally from George, with the owner on board and an SAA pilot with him.
Very distressing news - this is the second fatal accident in recent years in that area.
WIth som many experimental aircraft, aerobatic aircraft and ex-SAAF Harvards, never mind ThunderCity, one hopes that such accidents will not happen. BUt they seem to be a fact of life.
To the crew : RIP
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Crash on Vergelegen Estate
Has ayone got any more details on the aircraft that took off from stellenbosch airfield and crashed on vergelegen wine estate? Heard the wing broke off and both pilots were killed? What type of aircraft who the pilots were etc...
Thanx
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The instructor was an exceptional pilot. Flew for SAA. He and I were at SACS together.
A great loss to the aviation community and to his family and friends.
Fly well Steve. RIP
John
A great loss to the aviation community and to his family and friends.
Fly well Steve. RIP
John
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Steve Heugh
RIP Now that we know who he was - RIP Steve You will always be remebered my me as the " gobbie / sprogg" Loet (Luitenant) that showed many of us old toppies and ex fighter jocks (inc Real Orca) how to be a great instructor.
I had the priveledge of being with Steve on instructors course in 95-96 I think it was - and the youngster cleaned us out and kept the trophies to himself.
RIP my friend - sadly the second time God decided to wrap you in HIS wings.
RIP PS: Early days but I would appreciate funeral arrangements ASAP please.
From IOL :
By Murray Williams and Cindy Mathys
Steve Heugh had already cheated death once. And he believed the angels would now always be on his side.
Heugh, one of South Africa's finest aerobatic pilots, died on Tuesday when his plane smashed into a field on the Vergelegen wine estate in Somerset West just before 2.30pm.
He died instantly with his passenger, the trick plane's owner, Gerald Sweidan, founder of Pharos Medical Aid Plan Durban.
Pieces of Heugh's aircraft were scattered far and wide
Heugh, 40, also co-piloted Boeing 747s.
He leaves a widow, Sharon, son Ryan, eight, and twin daughters Lauren and Megan, six.
Heugh and Sweidan, who had taken off from Stellenbosch airfield, were flying a Russian-built I3 aerobatics aircraft, and Heugh was giving Sweidan his first lesson in aerobatic flying.
The cause of the accident is unknown, but Civil Aviation Authority investigators have already begun combing the site for clues.
Heugh's family has urged the media to refrain from speculation about the cause of the accident until the investigation is complete.
This includes a report that a farmworker saw one wing fall from the aircraft, then the other, before it plummeted to the ground.
On Tuesday Vergelegen's owners, Anglo American, barred the media from the estate.
But in a chilling repeat of history, the crash site is barely 4km from the place where father and son Peter and Charles Cilliers died a few years ago in a Skybolt aerobatics aircraft.
After Tuesday's crash, pieces of Heugh's aircraft were scattered far and wide. One of the wings reportedly landed close to a cross erected in memory of the Cilliers father and son.
For Heugh, flying the stunt plane came after a miraculous recovery. Then based in Johannesburg, he was a member of the SA Air Force's elite Silver Falcons team and, later, the Smirnoff Aerobatics Team.
In 2001 he was flying a Pitts Special when the engine stalled coming out of a loop. Calling on every ounce of expertise and experience, he nursed the plane back to the ground.
As the wheels hit the side of the runway they chipped the lip and snapped off. The plane cartwheeled into pieces but Heugh, critically injured, survived.
He spent weeks in intensive care, and over the past three years slowly regained the fitness to allow him to fly again.
Back behind the controls, he confidently believed he could never crash again.
In February he told the magazine SA Sports Illustrated: "From a stats point of view I've had mine and survived."
He believed the odds would always be on his side.
Steve Heugh had already cheated death once. And he believed the angels would now always be on his side.
Heugh, one of South Africa's finest aerobatic pilots, died on Tuesday when his plane smashed into a field on the Vergelegen wine estate in Somerset West just before 2.30pm.
He died instantly with his passenger, the trick plane's owner, Gerald Sweidan, founder of Pharos Medical Aid Plan Durban.
Pieces of Heugh's aircraft were scattered far and wide
Heugh, 40, also co-piloted Boeing 747s.
He leaves a widow, Sharon, son Ryan, eight, and twin daughters Lauren and Megan, six.
Heugh and Sweidan, who had taken off from Stellenbosch airfield, were flying a Russian-built I3 aerobatics aircraft, and Heugh was giving Sweidan his first lesson in aerobatic flying.
The cause of the accident is unknown, but Civil Aviation Authority investigators have already begun combing the site for clues.
Heugh's family has urged the media to refrain from speculation about the cause of the accident until the investigation is complete.
This includes a report that a farmworker saw one wing fall from the aircraft, then the other, before it plummeted to the ground.
On Tuesday Vergelegen's owners, Anglo American, barred the media from the estate.
But in a chilling repeat of history, the crash site is barely 4km from the place where father and son Peter and Charles Cilliers died a few years ago in a Skybolt aerobatics aircraft.
After Tuesday's crash, pieces of Heugh's aircraft were scattered far and wide. One of the wings reportedly landed close to a cross erected in memory of the Cilliers father and son.
For Heugh, flying the stunt plane came after a miraculous recovery. Then based in Johannesburg, he was a member of the SA Air Force's elite Silver Falcons team and, later, the Smirnoff Aerobatics Team.
In 2001 he was flying a Pitts Special when the engine stalled coming out of a loop. Calling on every ounce of expertise and experience, he nursed the plane back to the ground.
As the wheels hit the side of the runway they chipped the lip and snapped off. The plane cartwheeled into pieces but Heugh, critically injured, survived.
He spent weeks in intensive care, and over the past three years slowly regained the fitness to allow him to fly again.
Back behind the controls, he confidently believed he could never crash again.
In February he told the magazine SA Sports Illustrated: "From a stats point of view I've had mine and survived."
He believed the odds would always be on his side.
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Met Gerald on mon as he was ferrying the plane from FAPE to FASH said he was going via George and caused a gret stir amongst the pilots at the flying school as he prop swung the radial engine. Came as a great shock to hear a day later of the accident. RIP our thoughts are with friends and family.
The aptrac guys.
The aptrac guys.
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From News 24
From News 24
Edited by Iaine Harper
Carryn-Ann Nel
Somerset West - The families of the two men who died in an air crash on Vergelegen wine estate on Tuesday spent about two hours at the accident site.
The men were the owner of the Interavia I-3 and a pilot.
Steve Heugh, 40, of Somerset West, was regarded by a fellow pilot as "one of South Africa's best aerobatics pilots".
He is survived by his wife, Sharon, and his three children, Ryan, eight, and twin daughters Lauren and Megan, six.
Gerald Sweidan, 49, of Durban, was a founder member and managing director of Pharos Medical Plan.
He is survived by his wife, Lynda, and his two children, Christopher, 22, and David,16.
Beverley Pender, a close friend of the Heugh family, said the two men had flown together before.
A witness said the men were apparently doing aerobatic stunts when the wings collapsed, one after the other.
Probe could take years
The aircraft wreckage was scattered across a large area.
The aircraft's two wings were found about 250m apart.
Civil Aviation Authority officials have already started investigating and a spokesperson said: "It is an incredibly comprehensive investigation and could take months, even years.
"Crash investigation teams go over the site. Many things play a role in the investigation, for instance the post-mortem on the bodies. Metal from the aircraft is sent off for analysis," he said.
Anneke van der Vyver of Somerset West police said on Wednesday that farm workers saw the aircraft before it crashed into the ground "with a loud bang".
She said: "The wings were visible. Police started looking for the rest of the wreckage. The bodies were in the aircraft and were mutilated."
Investigating officer Hannes Niemand was also in charge at an accident six years ago when Springbok aerobatics pilot Pieter Celliers, 53, and his son Charles, 22, were practising aerobatic stunts when their plane crashed.
According to Van der Vyver, local police and members of civil aviation are working jointly on the investigation.
A member of the farm's management team said on Wednesday: "The accident details are still vague, but there are definitely indications that the wings started coming off while the aircraft was still in the air."
According to him, the aircraft was flying at between 1 500m and 2 000m.
Pieter du Preez, chairperson of the Stellenbosch Flying Club, said the flight area was a safe one without adverse wind currents.
Must practise above 3 000m
"The route is not a highway nor popular as a thoroughfare among pilots," he said.
Civil aviation's ruling is that pilots doing aerobatics must be above 3 000m in rural areas.
"For safety reasons, they may not practise their stunts in residential areas.
"The area where the crash happened is regarded as a rural area, so the men were in the right place.
"The area is also an uncontrolled airspace where no permission is needed and where pilots are not monitored.
"The only condition is that pilots should obey the rules."
Somerset West - The families of the two men who died in an air crash on Vergelegen wine estate on Tuesday spent about two hours at the accident site.
The men were the owner of the Interavia I-3 and a pilot.
Steve Heugh, 40, of Somerset West, was regarded by a fellow pilot as "one of South Africa's best aerobatics pilots".
He is survived by his wife, Sharon, and his three children, Ryan, eight, and twin daughters Lauren and Megan, six.
Gerald Sweidan, 49, of Durban, was a founder member and managing director of Pharos Medical Plan.
He is survived by his wife, Lynda, and his two children, Christopher, 22, and David,16.
Beverley Pender, a close friend of the Heugh family, said the two men had flown together before.
A witness said the men were apparently doing aerobatic stunts when the wings collapsed, one after the other.
Probe could take years
The aircraft wreckage was scattered across a large area.
The aircraft's two wings were found about 250m apart.
Civil Aviation Authority officials have already started investigating and a spokesperson said: "It is an incredibly comprehensive investigation and could take months, even years.
"Crash investigation teams go over the site. Many things play a role in the investigation, for instance the post-mortem on the bodies. Metal from the aircraft is sent off for analysis," he said.
Anneke van der Vyver of Somerset West police said on Wednesday that farm workers saw the aircraft before it crashed into the ground "with a loud bang".
She said: "The wings were visible. Police started looking for the rest of the wreckage. The bodies were in the aircraft and were mutilated."
Investigating officer Hannes Niemand was also in charge at an accident six years ago when Springbok aerobatics pilot Pieter Celliers, 53, and his son Charles, 22, were practising aerobatic stunts when their plane crashed.
According to Van der Vyver, local police and members of civil aviation are working jointly on the investigation.
A member of the farm's management team said on Wednesday: "The accident details are still vague, but there are definitely indications that the wings started coming off while the aircraft was still in the air."
According to him, the aircraft was flying at between 1 500m and 2 000m.
Pieter du Preez, chairperson of the Stellenbosch Flying Club, said the flight area was a safe one without adverse wind currents.
Must practise above 3 000m
"The route is not a highway nor popular as a thoroughfare among pilots," he said.
Civil aviation's ruling is that pilots doing aerobatics must be above 3 000m in rural areas.
"For safety reasons, they may not practise their stunts in residential areas.
"The area where the crash happened is regarded as a rural area, so the men were in the right place.
"The area is also an uncontrolled airspace where no permission is needed and where pilots are not monitored.
"The only condition is that pilots should obey the rules."
Edited by Iaine Harper
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Latest from IOL
By Tamlynn Johannes
Aerobatics pilot Steven Heugh, killed when the aircraft he was flying crashed on the Vergelegen wine estate in Somerset West on Tuesday, was the second member of his family to die in a flying accident.
His older brother Andrew died when his glider crashed near Stilfontein in North West Province 13 years ago.
Steven Heugh, 40, was an experienced pilot and had logged more than 9 000 flying hours as a Boeing 747 co-pilot for South African Airways. He later joined the South African Air Force's Silver Falcons Aerobatics Team and the Smirnoff International Aerobatics Team.
'We have no idea how or why this happened'
His sister, Kathleen, said on Wednesday her family was trying to cope with the shock and had not yet been allowed to visit the crash site.
"The police said we couldn't go through and that investigations would continue for a long time," she said.
"We have no idea how or why this happened, but what I know is that we as a family would want to see the site as soon as we are allowed to."
Ms Heugh said her brother's wife, Sharon, was not in a state to speak to the media.
"We need our space. He (Steven) was a beloved member of the family and will be missed dearly, especially by his young children, six-year-old twins Megan and Lauren, and eight-year-old son Ryan."
'Steve was a daredevil'
Heugh was giving a private lesson to Durban businessman Gerald Sweidan, founder and director of Pharos Medical Plan, who owned the Russian fixed-wing aerobatics aircraft.
Witnesses reported that the wings broke off, causing the body of the aircraft to spin out of control and crash just before 2.30pm.
Civil Aviation Authority officials inspected the scene on Wednesday to determine the cause of the crash.
Kathleen said her older brother Andrew had also been an avid aviator.
"The area where he was flying, near the Vaal River, was prone to freak winds that were strong and which would cause gliders to be pushed in the wrong direction. That's what happened to his glider."
Steven and Andrew Heugh and their older brothers David and Anthony attended Sacs in Newlands. They grew up in Somerset West and later in Linbro Park, Sandton, Gauteng. A sixth sibling, Geraldine Kooy, and her mother, Pauline, live in Australia.
Cape Times acting news editor Tony Weaver, who grew up with Heugh, said that as a boy Steven was forever getting into scrapes.
"Steve was a daredevil who even as a kid was passionate about flying," Weaver said.
"I can remember him sitting for hours with my late father, John - who was a Spitfire pilot with the South African Air Force's No 1 Squadron - talking about flying. Flying was all he ever wanted to do."
The president of the Airline Pilots Association of South Africa and a former colleague of Heugh, Gawie van Rooyen, said: "We are saddened by the loss of such a skilled man. He was a very experienced pilot and I know he would have taken any and every precaution to avoid accidents."
A rugby match between the South African Rugby Legends and the visiting Argentinian Legends is to be held in tribute to Sweidan, a rugby enthusiast, at the Westville Boys' High School, Durban on May 14. It is to be called the Gerald Sweidan Memorial Match.
Aerobatics pilot Steven Heugh, killed when the aircraft he was flying crashed on the Vergelegen wine estate in Somerset West on Tuesday, was the second member of his family to die in a flying accident.
His older brother Andrew died when his glider crashed near Stilfontein in North West Province 13 years ago.
Steven Heugh, 40, was an experienced pilot and had logged more than 9 000 flying hours as a Boeing 747 co-pilot for South African Airways. He later joined the South African Air Force's Silver Falcons Aerobatics Team and the Smirnoff International Aerobatics Team.
'We have no idea how or why this happened'
His sister, Kathleen, said on Wednesday her family was trying to cope with the shock and had not yet been allowed to visit the crash site.
"The police said we couldn't go through and that investigations would continue for a long time," she said.
"We have no idea how or why this happened, but what I know is that we as a family would want to see the site as soon as we are allowed to."
Ms Heugh said her brother's wife, Sharon, was not in a state to speak to the media.
"We need our space. He (Steven) was a beloved member of the family and will be missed dearly, especially by his young children, six-year-old twins Megan and Lauren, and eight-year-old son Ryan."
'Steve was a daredevil'
Heugh was giving a private lesson to Durban businessman Gerald Sweidan, founder and director of Pharos Medical Plan, who owned the Russian fixed-wing aerobatics aircraft.
Witnesses reported that the wings broke off, causing the body of the aircraft to spin out of control and crash just before 2.30pm.
Civil Aviation Authority officials inspected the scene on Wednesday to determine the cause of the crash.
Kathleen said her older brother Andrew had also been an avid aviator.
"The area where he was flying, near the Vaal River, was prone to freak winds that were strong and which would cause gliders to be pushed in the wrong direction. That's what happened to his glider."
Steven and Andrew Heugh and their older brothers David and Anthony attended Sacs in Newlands. They grew up in Somerset West and later in Linbro Park, Sandton, Gauteng. A sixth sibling, Geraldine Kooy, and her mother, Pauline, live in Australia.
Cape Times acting news editor Tony Weaver, who grew up with Heugh, said that as a boy Steven was forever getting into scrapes.
"Steve was a daredevil who even as a kid was passionate about flying," Weaver said.
"I can remember him sitting for hours with my late father, John - who was a Spitfire pilot with the South African Air Force's No 1 Squadron - talking about flying. Flying was all he ever wanted to do."
The president of the Airline Pilots Association of South Africa and a former colleague of Heugh, Gawie van Rooyen, said: "We are saddened by the loss of such a skilled man. He was a very experienced pilot and I know he would have taken any and every precaution to avoid accidents."
A rugby match between the South African Rugby Legends and the visiting Argentinian Legends is to be held in tribute to Sweidan, a rugby enthusiast, at the Westville Boys' High School, Durban on May 14. It is to be called the Gerald Sweidan Memorial Match.
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Farewell Steve
Steve was a very well respected member of the Airshow and Aerobatics 'family'. I wish him well and send condolences to his family and colleagues and the ex Smirnoff team. It is very sad that the owner, who was obviously new to the sport of aerobatics, should end his new venture so prematurely. God speed to them both and strength to their families!
Sir C
Sir C