Atlas C4m Kudu crash - Nelspruit

[Rhodie]

Five escape from burning plane
07/02/2005 11:46 - (SA)

White River - Five people were lucky to escape with their lives when an old army plane crashed in Mpumalanga on Sunday. Police spokesperson Erhard Stroh said on Monday pilot Cornelius du Toit was taking four people on a sightseeing flight.
The Kudu plane, which Du Toit had bought from the army for private use, started to lose height at Rocky's Drift near White River.
Du Toit tried to make an emergency landing on the R14, which runs between White River and Nelspruit.
The plane's front wheel broke off and the plane went out of control, crashed into a sand bank, rolled over and burst into flames.
Passers-by helped Du Toit and his four passengers to safety from the burning plane.
One of the passengers broke a rib and sustained second-degree burns to his back.

[clipboard]

Sad to hear! The Kudu is not a bad plane, but the geared engine, when not properly managed, can give problems. The GO-480's are renowed for quitting at the most in-opportune time.

Glad all survived. Pity though that the airplane was consumed by fire.

Good luck and speedy recovery to the injured.

[Solid Rust Twotter]

The SAAF must be pretty irritated that the Army is selling their aircraft on the sly.


Journalists...:mad: :yuk:

[Deanw]

Aye, it must have been the Army that added the front wheel that broke off :ugh:

[Captain Pheremone]

Hey you guys are on the ball. Doesn't losing altitude help when coming in to land??????

[Gunship]

The journalism get's worse ... at least it becomes very clear that the pilot did a great job :ok: Well done :ok:

There was a deathly silence in the cockpit of Toit du Toit's light aircraft on Sunday as he carried out an almost-perfect emergency landing on the busy R40 between Nelspruit and White River.

Had it not been for the rear wheel that broke off, the old military plane, an Atlas Kudu CM4, might not have crashed into a barrier after it veered across the road.

Instead, it could have merged with the flow of traffic and slowed down with all the cars.

However, Du Toit, 36, and his four passengers, describe their landing as a miracle - especially as neither they nor any motorists were seriously injured.

Du Toit managed to put the plane down in a gap between cars.

Luckily, there was also no oncoming traffic when the plane veered across the road.

Gerhard Goosen, 44, a friend and fellow pilot who has survived two previous emergency landings, had the most injuries when his arms were burnt, as were those of Du Toit's and Johan Cronje'.

He was trapped in the body of the plane, with leaking fuel, when it touched down.

But, Goosen and Cronje's father, Gert, 54, were able to drag him to safety only seconds before it caught fire.

The fifth person on board, Tony MacBride of Brakpan, escaped unscathed.

The men had been out on a joyride on Sunday when the plane suddenly hit air pockets and started shuddering.

Du Toit said: "I flew it at full throttle until I touched down on the tarmac."

Dieter Kaiser, the owner of a model glider, said he and other enthusiasts kept their planes on the ground on Sunday despite what appeared to be perfect flying conditions.

"There was no lift, but instead a pull that kept pulling the gliders down.

"It was in complete contrast to ideal flying conditions," he said.

Speaking from his hospital bed on Monday, Goosen told how no one said a word during the crash landing.

Du Toit stayed calm until Goosen and Cronjé were taken to hospital.

Only then did he burst into tears when MacBride embraced him.

"This is why someone becomes a pilot. You must stick to your gut feeling. :E

"When I decided an emergency landing was the best thing, I had to stick to it," said Du Toit.

In 2002, Goosen spent seven days in a critical condition in hospital after flying into power lines near Naboomspruit.

[wheels up]

I KNEW those air pockets were deadly.

Thats it then - I'm sticking to model gliders, even if they do get pulled down by mysterious forces.

[ANVAK]

Luckily no-one badly hurt and as usual with aircraft accidents the truth is the worst victim.
I'm just curious though -

Quote:
"Gerhard Goosen, 44, a friend and fellow pilot who has survived two previous emergency landings,"
and:
"In 2002, Goosen spent seven days in a critical condition in hospital after flying into power lines near Naboomspruit."

A rather accident-prone lot, aren't they?

[Jangys]

Front wheel that broke off....:{ Must have been a special KUDU with a front wheel....

:E :E

[Christo]

A kudu actually has 2 front wheels! Nothing wrong with that report!!

If they said nosewheel it would have been wrong!