Helicopter crash today..
Joined: Jul 2005
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From: Somewhere in Africa
Heli crash
Heard via the grapevine of this one today, knew the one chap well, both pilots at Naturelink, naturally things chaotic there today. Think the incident occured outside pretoria in a home build "baby bell" chopper? 2 Fatalities, Condolences to the families involved, sad day indeed.
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Joined: Jun 2001
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From: Hilton, Sheraton or Marriott
Sad news -
A quiet North West village was rocked by tragedy on Friday when a helicopter crashed on its outskirts and killed the pilot. SM, 28, of Pretoria, was on a trip to Brits when his helicopter apparently exploded and crashed. Simon Pege, of Robokala village in Lethlabile in North West, was ploughing a mielie field at about 8.15am when he heard a strange sound. "I heard a loud noise and saw the helicopter going down. I ran towards it and as I was running I heard a loud explosion," the 57-year-old resident said. The crash was about two kilometres from the nearest tarred road.
The helicopter, a Safari Baby Belle owned by Naturelink Aviation, was a crumpled wreck. The fuel tank was ripped from the fuselage and lay about five metres from the wreckage. Police from the Lethlabile police station were alerted to the crash by residents who saw the helicopter nose-diving and disappearing from view. Captain Paul Maerman said when he arrived at the scene he saw the body lying a few metres from the plane. A Naturelink Aviation employee, who would only identify himself as Dian, said they were just starting an investigation and may issue a statement next week.
SM's best friend Alewyn Burger, also a Naturelink Aviation employee, said SM was on a recreational flight from Wonderboom airport to Brits. "He took off at about 7.45am and the accident happened en-route. "It takes about 40 minutes to fly to Brits from that airport. "SM was originally from Port Elizabeth but he moved to Pretoria recently. He was a brilliant pilot with about 3500 hours' flying time. He flew anything from helicopters to large aircraft," he said.
Wonderboom emergency services manager André van Rooyen confirmed the helicopter took off from the airport but had no further details. Civil Aviation Authority workers cordoned-off the crash site and carried out in situ investigations before leaving the scene that afternoon. The CAA would carry out all investigations to determine the cause of the crash.
The helicopter, a Safari Baby Belle owned by Naturelink Aviation, was a crumpled wreck. The fuel tank was ripped from the fuselage and lay about five metres from the wreckage. Police from the Lethlabile police station were alerted to the crash by residents who saw the helicopter nose-diving and disappearing from view. Captain Paul Maerman said when he arrived at the scene he saw the body lying a few metres from the plane. A Naturelink Aviation employee, who would only identify himself as Dian, said they were just starting an investigation and may issue a statement next week.
SM's best friend Alewyn Burger, also a Naturelink Aviation employee, said SM was on a recreational flight from Wonderboom airport to Brits. "He took off at about 7.45am and the accident happened en-route. "It takes about 40 minutes to fly to Brits from that airport. "SM was originally from Port Elizabeth but he moved to Pretoria recently. He was a brilliant pilot with about 3500 hours' flying time. He flew anything from helicopters to large aircraft," he said.
Wonderboom emergency services manager André van Rooyen confirmed the helicopter took off from the airport but had no further details. Civil Aviation Authority workers cordoned-off the crash site and carried out in situ investigations before leaving the scene that afternoon. The CAA would carry out all investigations to determine the cause of the crash.
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 70
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From: South of the Sahara
It is with unbelivable shock I learnt of the crash and subsequent loss of a good pilot and a great friend. I was not in the country when the crash occured and it all seemed somewhat unreal, but arriving back this morning the reality has hit hard. My profound condolences to his family and his sister.
