View Full Version : Chopper down in Namibia
abc.fp
15th Jan 2006, 20:59
Hi all,
I received the sad news that a helicopter crashed in the south of Namibia this afternoon. Apparently they were doing training on a farm.
A very well known and respected instructor (from Eros) died in the crash, and his son survived, but is in critical condition.
Condolences to family and friends, and all Westair staff!!!
R.I.P.
PS: Voel, any more info?
Information we received is that it was Doug Castleman, also a DE of excellence. Spoke to him last week when he was doing IFR test for lot of pilot. Its sad to loose yet another friend and pilot. The student was seriously injured, but I guess its not his son, but somebody he was training
canthover
16th Jan 2006, 08:20
When did Doug get back into helicopter flying - if it is the same Doug that was doing some aerobatic work out of Virginia a few years back?
Any idea what type of machine and circumstances?
Very sad indeed - condolences to all.
Beechdrivr
16th Jan 2006, 08:33
Another sad loss once again. At this rate i'm gonna have no more friends left in Nam.... my deepest condolences to his family. I'll always have fond memories of flying with him.... what a great guy!:sad: Does anyone have any info on what might have gone wrong?
RIP Doug:sad:
abc.fp
16th Jan 2006, 10:12
Hi again,
The information I have is all second-hand, so I apologise if its not 100% correct.
Apparently Doug was giving training with a R22 on a farm, to the son of the farmer. (ID unknown). They were practising "auto-rotations?" when they hit the ground, cause unknown.
The student survived, but is fighting for his life, and has apparently no feeling in his lower body.
Ttailed
16th Jan 2006, 10:31
Condolences to all family, staff at Westair and to everyone else who knew him.
R.I.P.
Tt
bigmanatc
16th Jan 2006, 20:48
Apparently Doug was giving training with a R22 on a farm, to the son of the farmer. (ID unknown). They were practising "auto-rotations?" when they hit the ground, cause unknown.
Nobody said choppers were easy..............!! just ask Hansie.......(not the cricketer)......
Gunship
17th Jan 2006, 04:21
:sad: Condolences to the friends and family left behind :sad:
RIP
Gunship
17th Jan 2006, 12:30
A small world : I had a business lunch with a great friend.
The pax on board was supposed to be with him to his farm this coming weekend.
Wrote matric last year :(
Latest he had is that he was on his way to CT for medical treatment.
Sad news.
first Jon (RIP), then Danie, now Doug...
Gunship
18th Jan 2006, 04:00
Pilot killed in chopper crash
* CHRISTOF MALETSKY
A SEASONED pilot, Doug Castleman, died instantly when a Robinson R22 helicopter crashed on a farm seven kilometres north-east of Mariental on Sunday morning.
Castleman was instructing a student pilot, Arthur Simon, when the accident occurred on the farm owned by Simon's father, Mariental businessman Bennie Simon.
Simon broke his back and is in hospital.
The Director of Accidents and Investigations in the Ministry of Works, Kamau Mwangi, confirmed the accident but declined to provide details until preliminary investigations were finalised.
He said the Ministry's accident investigators had spent the whole of yesterday at the crash scene.
Castleman's helicopter accident is the third in which Namibia has lost a seasoned pilot.
Others were Piet Stassen, whose helicopter crashed in the river near Kasane in Botswana, and the owner of the Comav aviation company, Danie van der Merwe, who died in August last year when his Robinson R44 helicopter crashed on his farm near Windhoek.
"It is a sad story.
We have lost a seasoned pilot," said Wolfgang Grellmann, CEO of Westair, yesterday.
Castleman worked for Grellmann two years ago when he was the chief flight instructor at Westair Flight Training Academy and also an official examiner of the Namibian Directorate of Civil Aviation, DCA.
Grellmann had known him since he worked for the then Owambo Administration 20 years ago.
"He disappeared for some time and I believe he built a boat and went on a cruise but, all of a sudden, reappeared some five years ago.
He basically worked for all charter operators at the airport," Grellmann said.
He said the Grade One instructor and examiner had worked on contract basis for the last six months.
The ill-fated helicopter was owned by Simon and was mainly used at the farm over the weekends.
"He was highly skilled," Grellmann said of Castleman.
"There are very few people with the skills he had".
Mwangi said he would only be able to comment on the details of the accident once his team was back in the city later in the week.
Namibian (http://www.namibian.com.na/2006/January/national/06FDD1F6A8.html)
RIP Piet Stassen .. sadly never knew about his accident :sad:
Others were Piet Stassen, whose helicopter crashed in the river near Kasane in Botswana,