Two air disasters in one day
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Two air disasters in one day
Just heard on the news.......one helicopter not sure what type, apperently it belongs to Cell C crashed.....
The other was an aircraft which attended the Nelspruit airshow.....
in both disasters all pilots + pax perrished, if i remembered correctly.....
Real sad news to the aviation community
My condolences to friends and family....
The other was an aircraft which attended the Nelspruit airshow.....
in both disasters all pilots + pax perrished, if i remembered correctly.....
Real sad news to the aviation community
My condolences to friends and family....
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Nelspruit - Several people were killed on Sunday in two unrelated aircraft accidents in the eastern Mpumalanga region, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) reported.
The authority confirmed a Sukhoi SU-29 aerobatic aircraft had crashed into the mountains at Kaapsehoop while a Bell 407 helicopter had crashed in the Graskop mountains.
Two people on board the Sukhoi died on impact, said CAA chief accident investigator Andre de Kok said.
He could not confirm the number of dead in the chopper crash, but said six people were on board when the aircraft hit the mountains.
An SA National Defence Force helicopter had located the chopper wreckage, which was flying from Sabie to Graskop, De Kok said.
He said the Sukhoi was flown down to Nelspruit on Saturday for the town's annual air show.
It was on its way from Nelspruit to Ermelo on Sunday when it crashed.
The authority confirmed a Sukhoi SU-29 aerobatic aircraft had crashed into the mountains at Kaapsehoop while a Bell 407 helicopter had crashed in the Graskop mountains.
Two people on board the Sukhoi died on impact, said CAA chief accident investigator Andre de Kok said.
He could not confirm the number of dead in the chopper crash, but said six people were on board when the aircraft hit the mountains.
An SA National Defence Force helicopter had located the chopper wreckage, which was flying from Sabie to Graskop, De Kok said.
He said the Sukhoi was flown down to Nelspruit on Saturday for the town's annual air show.
It was on its way from Nelspruit to Ermelo on Sunday when it crashed.
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Some more gen from NEWS24.COM
Erika Gibson
Nelspruit - A pleasure trip went horribly wrong when a helicopter crashed into a mountain near Graskop.
The Bell 407, belonging to the National Aircraft Corporation, was ferrying a group of picnic-goers from Sabie to Graskop when it crashed.
Initial investigations suggest there were no mechanical problems with the chopper. Thick mist could have played a role in the tragedy.
The pilot and all five occupants died on impact. Their names have not been released yet.
NAC's Graeme Conlyn says the accident happened in a very remote area and it took them about five hours to find the wreckage.
Police, members of the SA mountaineering club and an Air Force Oryx helicopter only managed to reach the scene of the accident by late afternoon.
Three of NAC's choppers were taking passengers from a nearby game reserve for a mountain picnic when the accident happened.
'Bok aerobatic pilot killed
In another accident, two people died when a Sukhoi SU-29 aerobatic plane crashed into the mountains at Kaapsehoop.
Springbok aerobatic pilot Arrie Meyer and his passenger, Anton Luck, were killed on impact.
They were on their way back to Ermelo after taking part in Nelspruit's annual air show.
Civil Aviation's André de Kock says there is, as yet, no indication of what caused the accident.
VERY SAD, CONDOLENCES TO FAMILIES AND FRIENDS
Erika Gibson
Nelspruit - A pleasure trip went horribly wrong when a helicopter crashed into a mountain near Graskop.
The Bell 407, belonging to the National Aircraft Corporation, was ferrying a group of picnic-goers from Sabie to Graskop when it crashed.
Initial investigations suggest there were no mechanical problems with the chopper. Thick mist could have played a role in the tragedy.
The pilot and all five occupants died on impact. Their names have not been released yet.
NAC's Graeme Conlyn says the accident happened in a very remote area and it took them about five hours to find the wreckage.
Police, members of the SA mountaineering club and an Air Force Oryx helicopter only managed to reach the scene of the accident by late afternoon.
Three of NAC's choppers were taking passengers from a nearby game reserve for a mountain picnic when the accident happened.
'Bok aerobatic pilot killed
In another accident, two people died when a Sukhoi SU-29 aerobatic plane crashed into the mountains at Kaapsehoop.
Springbok aerobatic pilot Arrie Meyer and his passenger, Anton Luck, were killed on impact.
They were on their way back to Ermelo after taking part in Nelspruit's annual air show.
Civil Aviation's André de Kock says there is, as yet, no indication of what caused the accident.
VERY SAD, CONDOLENCES TO FAMILIES AND FRIENDS
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None of these accidents get any easier to take, even after many years of flying. Aerobatics are an accepted risk for sure, as to the fixed wing. But A 407 going for a Picnic??? Could the crash site be close to that point where the Mist met Terra Firma???......terrible loss.
I lost a good friend in Hawaii a couple years ago, he took six with him.....13,000 hour pilot......right where the Clouds met the
Ground....
Just give me one year, before I retire, without accidents that could have been prevented.
I lost a good friend in Hawaii a couple years ago, he took six with him.....13,000 hour pilot......right where the Clouds met the
Ground....
Just give me one year, before I retire, without accidents that could have been prevented.
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And some later sad news
An executive of cellphone company Cell C and four other employees died when a helicopter crashed into a mountain near Graskop on Sunday. Cell C's chair and CEO, Talaat Laham, said the helicopter crash, in which the pilot also died, was a "tremendous shock".
The Bell 407, belonging to the National Aircraft Corporation, was one of three taking Cell C staffers back to Johannesburg after a work session at Earthlodge, near Sabie Sabie.
Initial investigations suggest there were no mechanical problems with the chopper. Thick mist could have played a role in the tragedy.
Ri'tte van Niekerk who works at the Panorama holiday resort near which the accident happened, says she heard a loud bang.
"When we saw two helicopters appear, we thought the one was experiencing problems. We only heard about the crash later in the day."
Graskop resident Elsa Viljoen said thick mist could set in over the area in 15 minutes, reducing visibility to three metres.
NAC's Graeme Conlyn says the accident happened in a very remote area and it took them about five hours to find the wreckage.
Police, members of the SA mountaineering club and an Air Force Oryx helicopter only managed to reach the scene of the accident by late afternoon.
The names of the victims have, as yet, not been released.
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Condolences to all concerned.
Its a crappy area to fly in with low cloud. Got lost hiking around Graskop in mist a few years back and it gets like a peasoup. Kaapsehoop is not much better.
Its a crappy area to fly in with low cloud. Got lost hiking around Graskop in mist a few years back and it gets like a peasoup. Kaapsehoop is not much better.
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QUOTE:
Names of the six victims released
The names of the six victims of the weekend helicopter crash in Mpumulanga have been released. An executive director of Cell-C and his wife, an executive from Nashua Mobile and his wife, the BROTHER of singer Danny K and the pilot were killed in yesterday's accident. Cell C has confirmed that six people were killed in the tragedy near Graskop. They were Cell C sales director, Ruco Durand, and his wife, Yvette, Nashua Mobile MD, Simon Herbert, and his wife, Kelly, Click & Call MD, Jarren Koppel, who is also Danny K's brother and the helicopter pilot, Louis Nel. The helicopter was one of three chartered by Cell C - it was returning from a company workshop in Sabi Sabi en route to Joburg, when it crashed in a gorge. Koppel was in his early twenties - his funeral is expected to take place tomorrow.
UNQUOTE
Condolences to all concerned.
Names of the six victims released
The names of the six victims of the weekend helicopter crash in Mpumulanga have been released. An executive director of Cell-C and his wife, an executive from Nashua Mobile and his wife, the BROTHER of singer Danny K and the pilot were killed in yesterday's accident. Cell C has confirmed that six people were killed in the tragedy near Graskop. They were Cell C sales director, Ruco Durand, and his wife, Yvette, Nashua Mobile MD, Simon Herbert, and his wife, Kelly, Click & Call MD, Jarren Koppel, who is also Danny K's brother and the helicopter pilot, Louis Nel. The helicopter was one of three chartered by Cell C - it was returning from a company workshop in Sabi Sabi en route to Joburg, when it crashed in a gorge. Koppel was in his early twenties - his funeral is expected to take place tomorrow.
UNQUOTE
Condolences to all concerned.
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Those Mountains ..
... yeah those mountains has seen many lives lost ..
I "grew up" in those mountains - did mountain rescues there .. recovered bodies there, searched for the missing and did many dagga operations there.
Summary : Handle them with utter care as they are unpredictable and close in very, very fast.
If you study met it is easy to understand. This is the first mountain range from the warm Mozambique current.
The mountains are quite high and it is no co - incidence if a temp is 32 degree in the Lowveld and 15 degrees at the top.
So you get a lot of convection and then that famous mist (famous for bad reasons).
Also walked and also got lost in the mist. Flew in it and never got lost * touch wood * as I knew them but ... I always kept my respect and my distance when I did not "feel" comfy ..
RIP Louis and the other Pax
I "grew up" in those mountains - did mountain rescues there .. recovered bodies there, searched for the missing and did many dagga operations there.
Summary : Handle them with utter care as they are unpredictable and close in very, very fast.
If you study met it is easy to understand. This is the first mountain range from the warm Mozambique current.
The mountains are quite high and it is no co - incidence if a temp is 32 degree in the Lowveld and 15 degrees at the top.
So you get a lot of convection and then that famous mist (famous for bad reasons).
Also walked and also got lost in the mist. Flew in it and never got lost * touch wood * as I knew them but ... I always kept my respect and my distance when I did not "feel" comfy ..
RIP Louis and the other Pax
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"Urgent Post - Mortem"
All six bodies recovered from a Cell C charter helicopter that crashed in Mpumalanga at the weekend were flown to Pretoria on Monday night for an urgent post mortem.
The deceased include Cell C sales director Ruco Durand and his wife Yvette, Nashua Mobile managing director Simon Herbert and his wife Kelly, and Click & Call managing director Jarren Koppel.
Helicopter pilot Louis Nel also died instantly when his Bell 407 helicopter crashed in thick mist in the densely-wooded Panorama Gorge on Sunday.
Rescuers, led by Graskop's volunteer civil defence team, recovered five of the bodies on Sunday but struggled until 14:00 on Monday to airlift the last body from under heavy wreckage.
"It was an extremely difficult operation. The gorge is about 200m deep, with trees up to 30m high. You can only get in from the air, and the weather was very bad with mist, rain and even hail at one stage," said rescue team leader, Sakkie van der Merwe.
"One of the women's bodies was trapped under the helicopter's engine against a tree. We eventually had to fly in special hydraulic rescue equipment from the military's Hoedspruit Airforce Base."
Stressing that aviation experts were still conducting on-site investigations, Van Der Merwe said initial evidence appeared to rule out mechanical failure. Thick mist is likely to have played a role in the tragedy.
"The wreck was still pretty intact and concentrated in a pretty tight area, with all but two bodies still inside the passenger compartment. There was no fire, and the helicopter's tail rotor was also still fairly intact," he said.
The helicopter was one of three chartered by Cell C to fly its management team back from a workshop at the exclusive Earth Lodge in the Sabi Sabi private game reserve.
"All three choppers were on their way back to Johannesburg, but were doing a bit of sight-seeing along the way. They were scheduled to stop off in Graskop, but the accident prevented this," said Cell C acting communications director, Moira Sheridan.
"It's a terrible shock. I still can't believe it. We're doing all we can to help family and friends, including offering trauma counselling."
The Durands leave two young children, a son and daughter aged two and four years, currently in the care of Ruco's brother, Albie.
Cell C chief executive Talaat Laham was in one of the two surviving helicopters, and spent all of Sunday at the crash site.
"The suddenness of the loss of life is tragic. It's been devastating for those of us who were friends and colleagues," said Laham.
Panorama Resort employee, Ri'tte van Niekerk, heard the crash impact at roughly 11:00 on Sunday but was unable to see anything due to mist.
"We heard a loud bang in the gorge, and then saw two helicopters appear. We thought the noise was caused by engine problems on one of them, and only found out about the crash later in the day," she said.
The wreck was so well shrouded by dense woodlands that rescuers, including an Airforce Oryx helicopter, only spotted the wreckage four hours later at 15:30 after combing a 10km radius.
Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spokesperson Sibusiso Machomane confirmed that an inspection team is already on-site to probe possible causes.
"We're not sure yet, but mist seems to be the crucial factor in this tragedy. In our experience, the weather and human factor are the greatest causes of accidents," said Machomane.
CAA statistics indicate 58 people have died in air crashes so far this year, while 576 had died since 1999. The worst year during this period was 2002, when 146 people died in light aircraft crashes.
Machomane said it was currently impossible to say which province or region recorded the most deaths, or what class of aircraft had the worst track-record.
Graskop police spokesperson, Inspector Marc Pelssers, meanwhile confirmed that family and friends had driven down from Gauteng to the small holiday town to positively identify the bodies.
"All the bodies are now identified. The families have all left, and we are flying the bodies to Pretoria tonight for urgent post mortem at 08:00 on Tuesday," said Pelssers.
"This is the first aircraft crash in this district in my 11 years on the force. The support by local volunteers has been incredible. The local rescue team is virtually entirely volunteer, and was helped by volunteers from the Gauteng branch of Mountaineering SA."
Local police, SA Airforce ground crew, Sappi forest rangers and local paramedics all also assisted.
Police and CAA investigators are meanwhile probing a second aircraft crash in Mpumalanga that claimed the lives of Springbok aerobatic pilot Arrie Meyer and his passenger, Anton Luck, when their Sukhoi SU-29 aerobatic plane crashed into cliffs near the wild horse town of Kaapsehoop.
Meyer and Luck had been returning home from the Nelspruit Airshow, when they appear to have been blown off course by heavy winds during an unseasonable thunderstorm.
The men's family alerted authorities when their plane failed to arrive in Ermelo, but it took rescuers five hours to find the charred wreckage in dense plantations below Kaapsehoop's cliffs.
The deceased include Cell C sales director Ruco Durand and his wife Yvette, Nashua Mobile managing director Simon Herbert and his wife Kelly, and Click & Call managing director Jarren Koppel.
Helicopter pilot Louis Nel also died instantly when his Bell 407 helicopter crashed in thick mist in the densely-wooded Panorama Gorge on Sunday.
Rescuers, led by Graskop's volunteer civil defence team, recovered five of the bodies on Sunday but struggled until 14:00 on Monday to airlift the last body from under heavy wreckage.
"It was an extremely difficult operation. The gorge is about 200m deep, with trees up to 30m high. You can only get in from the air, and the weather was very bad with mist, rain and even hail at one stage," said rescue team leader, Sakkie van der Merwe.
"One of the women's bodies was trapped under the helicopter's engine against a tree. We eventually had to fly in special hydraulic rescue equipment from the military's Hoedspruit Airforce Base."
Stressing that aviation experts were still conducting on-site investigations, Van Der Merwe said initial evidence appeared to rule out mechanical failure. Thick mist is likely to have played a role in the tragedy.
"The wreck was still pretty intact and concentrated in a pretty tight area, with all but two bodies still inside the passenger compartment. There was no fire, and the helicopter's tail rotor was also still fairly intact," he said.
The helicopter was one of three chartered by Cell C to fly its management team back from a workshop at the exclusive Earth Lodge in the Sabi Sabi private game reserve.
"All three choppers were on their way back to Johannesburg, but were doing a bit of sight-seeing along the way. They were scheduled to stop off in Graskop, but the accident prevented this," said Cell C acting communications director, Moira Sheridan.
"It's a terrible shock. I still can't believe it. We're doing all we can to help family and friends, including offering trauma counselling."
The Durands leave two young children, a son and daughter aged two and four years, currently in the care of Ruco's brother, Albie.
Cell C chief executive Talaat Laham was in one of the two surviving helicopters, and spent all of Sunday at the crash site.
"The suddenness of the loss of life is tragic. It's been devastating for those of us who were friends and colleagues," said Laham.
Panorama Resort employee, Ri'tte van Niekerk, heard the crash impact at roughly 11:00 on Sunday but was unable to see anything due to mist.
"We heard a loud bang in the gorge, and then saw two helicopters appear. We thought the noise was caused by engine problems on one of them, and only found out about the crash later in the day," she said.
The wreck was so well shrouded by dense woodlands that rescuers, including an Airforce Oryx helicopter, only spotted the wreckage four hours later at 15:30 after combing a 10km radius.
Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spokesperson Sibusiso Machomane confirmed that an inspection team is already on-site to probe possible causes.
"We're not sure yet, but mist seems to be the crucial factor in this tragedy. In our experience, the weather and human factor are the greatest causes of accidents," said Machomane.
CAA statistics indicate 58 people have died in air crashes so far this year, while 576 had died since 1999. The worst year during this period was 2002, when 146 people died in light aircraft crashes.
Machomane said it was currently impossible to say which province or region recorded the most deaths, or what class of aircraft had the worst track-record.
Graskop police spokesperson, Inspector Marc Pelssers, meanwhile confirmed that family and friends had driven down from Gauteng to the small holiday town to positively identify the bodies.
"All the bodies are now identified. The families have all left, and we are flying the bodies to Pretoria tonight for urgent post mortem at 08:00 on Tuesday," said Pelssers.
"This is the first aircraft crash in this district in my 11 years on the force. The support by local volunteers has been incredible. The local rescue team is virtually entirely volunteer, and was helped by volunteers from the Gauteng branch of Mountaineering SA."
Local police, SA Airforce ground crew, Sappi forest rangers and local paramedics all also assisted.
Police and CAA investigators are meanwhile probing a second aircraft crash in Mpumalanga that claimed the lives of Springbok aerobatic pilot Arrie Meyer and his passenger, Anton Luck, when their Sukhoi SU-29 aerobatic plane crashed into cliffs near the wild horse town of Kaapsehoop.
Meyer and Luck had been returning home from the Nelspruit Airshow, when they appear to have been blown off course by heavy winds during an unseasonable thunderstorm.
The men's family alerted authorities when their plane failed to arrive in Ermelo, but it took rescuers five hours to find the charred wreckage in dense plantations below Kaapsehoop's cliffs.
GunsssR4ever
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Schocked relatives ..
The death of one of the victims of the weekend's helicopter crash in Mpumalanga sent shock waves through the local entertainment industry.
Click & Call managing director Jarren Koppel, one of the six people who died when the Cell C charter helicopter crashed in thick mist in the densely-wooded Panorama Gorge on Sunday, was the brother of well-known singer Danny K.
Former Miss South Africa Vanessa Carreira, who is a friend of the Koppel family, knew Koppel well and said he was a "fantastic young man. Everyone who knew him is still in shock and struggling to deal with it," Carreira said.
Koppel would have finished his overseas studies in accounting this year.
All six bodies recovered from the helicopter were flown to Pretoria on Monday night for an urgent post-mortem.
The dead include Cell C sales director Ruco Durand and his wife Yvette, Nashua Mobile managing director Simon Herbert and his wife Kelly, as well as Koppel. Helicopter pilot Louis Nel also died instantly.
The helicopter was one of three chartered by Cell C to fly its management team back from a workshop at the exclusive Earth Lodge in the Sabi Sabi private game reserve.
"All three choppers were on their way back to Johannesburg, but were doing a bit of sight-seeing along the way. They were scheduled to stop off in Graskop, but the accident prevented this," said Cell C acting communications director, Moira Sheridan.
The Durands leave two young children, a son and daughter aged two and four years, currently in the care of Ruco's brother, Albie.
Click & Call managing director Jarren Koppel, one of the six people who died when the Cell C charter helicopter crashed in thick mist in the densely-wooded Panorama Gorge on Sunday, was the brother of well-known singer Danny K.
Former Miss South Africa Vanessa Carreira, who is a friend of the Koppel family, knew Koppel well and said he was a "fantastic young man. Everyone who knew him is still in shock and struggling to deal with it," Carreira said.
Koppel would have finished his overseas studies in accounting this year.
All six bodies recovered from the helicopter were flown to Pretoria on Monday night for an urgent post-mortem.
The dead include Cell C sales director Ruco Durand and his wife Yvette, Nashua Mobile managing director Simon Herbert and his wife Kelly, as well as Koppel. Helicopter pilot Louis Nel also died instantly.
The helicopter was one of three chartered by Cell C to fly its management team back from a workshop at the exclusive Earth Lodge in the Sabi Sabi private game reserve.
"All three choppers were on their way back to Johannesburg, but were doing a bit of sight-seeing along the way. They were scheduled to stop off in Graskop, but the accident prevented this," said Cell C acting communications director, Moira Sheridan.
The Durands leave two young children, a son and daughter aged two and four years, currently in the care of Ruco's brother, Albie.
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Very sad indeed.
Condolences to the family and friends of all the deceased.
Adverse weather combined with those mountains are not the best friend to any of us. If you can't get IFR over the top the best is to stay put. I remember about 10 years ago when I took an aircraft (very basic SE p!sscat) to Nelspruit to demonstrate to a potential buyer. The WX clamped in over the mountains. I was told by some locals to "take it up the Ngodwana valley and you'll get through". However, I decided to wait for the WX to clear - four days before I could get back over the mountains to Jo'burg! Had a jolly good time however as my little Avis jammy and a cosy little place called the Karula Hotel in White River made for pleasant passing of the time.
In this case not all senior executives in the helo were from the same company but it is always good practise not to allow several senior company officials from the same company to travel in one aircraft together. The Falcon 10 accident near Tzaneen in the '80's was a classic example of having a whole executive team killed in one accident.
Adverse weather combined with those mountains are not the best friend to any of us. If you can't get IFR over the top the best is to stay put. I remember about 10 years ago when I took an aircraft (very basic SE p!sscat) to Nelspruit to demonstrate to a potential buyer. The WX clamped in over the mountains. I was told by some locals to "take it up the Ngodwana valley and you'll get through". However, I decided to wait for the WX to clear - four days before I could get back over the mountains to Jo'burg! Had a jolly good time however as my little Avis jammy and a cosy little place called the Karula Hotel in White River made for pleasant passing of the time.
In this case not all senior executives in the helo were from the same company but it is always good practise not to allow several senior company officials from the same company to travel in one aircraft together. The Falcon 10 accident near Tzaneen in the '80's was a classic example of having a whole executive team killed in one accident.
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Bakela,
Had the same thing in '87 trying to get back to Phalaborwa from Nelspruit in a C172. Weather socked in and no matter what we tried we could not get over / through the valleys. Ended up back in Nelspruit for a couple of days - luckily we were on leave and not pressured to get back for work.
Its a real ****ty area and it can change so quickly. The mist is really a pea soup and it makes it an absolute sod for visibility.
Had the same thing in '87 trying to get back to Phalaborwa from Nelspruit in a C172. Weather socked in and no matter what we tried we could not get over / through the valleys. Ended up back in Nelspruit for a couple of days - luckily we were on leave and not pressured to get back for work.
Its a real ****ty area and it can change so quickly. The mist is really a pea soup and it makes it an absolute sod for visibility.
