Crash at FACt

[340_co-jock]

Anyone know more details of the plane crash that occurred at Atlantis today?
May my friend RIP.

[Heli_Sticktime]

Just heard on the radio that a light twin crashed in the Atlantis area (assume Delta 200 training area) near Cape Town, 3 on board all fatal:(

[GULF69]

ZS-FET.
RODRIGUES + ROUSSOW + 1 passed away

OUR SINCERE CONDOLENCES WITH THE FAMILIES

69

[GULF69]

see Heli_Sticktime's post

[Cirrus SR22]

"Whenever we talk about a pilot who has been killed in a flying accident, we should all keep one thing in mind. He called upon the sum of all his knowledge and made a judgment. He believed in it so strongly that he knowingly bet his life on it. That his judgment was faulty was a tragedy, not stupidity. Every instructor, supervisor, and contemporary who ever spoke to him had an opportunity to influence his judgment, so a little bit of all of us goes with every pilot we lose."
(Author Unknown)

[Cirrus SR22]

"Whenever we talk about a pilot who has been killed in a flying accident, we should all keep one thing in mind. He called upon the sum of all his knowledge and made a judgment. He believed in it so strongly that he knowingly bet his life on it. That his judgment was faulty was a tragedy, not stupidity. Every instructor, supervisor, and contemporary who ever spoke to him had an opportunity to influence his judgment, so a little bit of all of us goes with every pilot we lose."
(Author Unknown)

[captain cumulonimbus]

Terribly sad news.I know ZS-FET (Beechcraft Travelair as I recall),beautiful aircraft.More disturbing is the mention of "Roussouw"...I have not heard anything other than radio news but I trained closely with a fantastic aviator from Link named Roussouw whom I know has a connection with FET.

Don't want to mention first names out of respect for families involved but please PM if you can confirm if it is the same person.

Terribly sad evening for SA aviation:uhoh:

Cb

[4granted]

Not Anton from LINK...
RIP Rod, best regards to Ray. You guys opening a flying school up there...?


Condolences to all families.


4g

[captain cumulonimbus]

Well that's a relief in a sense,thanks.

RIP to those who died.They died at least doing what they loved...what more could any of us ask for?:(

[Capt. Glenn Quagmire]

I did my initial twin rating on FET and knew rod from that time. Very sad to hear that. Condolences to the families.

Any news on the incident?

[Deanw]

3 die in horror plane crash
April 26, 2006
By Caryn Dolley Anél Powell
Three Cape Aero Club pilots, one of them a chief instructor, died when their light aircraft nose-dived into trees at Camphill Village near Atlantis soon after 1pm yesterday.
Chief instructor Jaochim "Rod" Rodrigues, Mohammed Abdallah and Rossouw van der Watt were killed in the crash, described as "violent" by Cape Aero Club president Schalk Burger.
Abdallah, from the Sudan, and Rodrigues, from Durbanville, were on a training flight and Van der Watt had "gone along for the ride", he said.
Donovan Sheldon and Brian Mathesen, maintenance workers on Camphill farm, said they had heard the engine of the plane revving before it crashed.
"We were about 200 metres from the place it crashed when we saw it go down," Mathesen said.
"We hadn't heard the plane at first and our backs were to it. We heard this high revving sound, we turned around and saw it go down with its nose pointing to the ground. We heard this loud crash, like a long gunshot, and then it went quiet."
They had not seen any smoke and ran towards the spot they judged the plane had crashed.
Sheldon said they had found the site of the crash by following the smell of fumes.
"We had to work our way through a lot of trees and bush before we got to the plane. It was shocking.
"We immediately checked if the people in it were alive, but we could see they were dead. The man in one of the front seats, who we think was the pilot, had a long cut on his neck and his head was leaning on the window."
Sheldon waited at the scene while Mathesen ran to call the police.
The two men said it seemed, from the plane's position when they had reached it, that a wing had caught on a tree.
Members of Metro Emergency Medical Services, the SA Police Service and firefighters struggled to free the bodies.
They used the jaws of life to prise open the roof of the plane and by 4pm had removed the bodies.
Wilfred Solomons, a spokesman for City of Cape Town disaster management, said a flight plan had been filed with the air traffic navigation services.
According to Phindiwe Gwebu, spokeswoman for the Civil Aviation Authority, the twin-engined Beechcraft had taken off from Cape Town International Airport for a training flight in a designated flying area north of the city.
Burger said he was "baffled" and could not yet say what had caused the light aircraft to crash.
Martin Truter, a police officer who had been helping co-ordinate the removal of the three bodies from the crash, said that, based on the witness reports he had received, it appeared the plane had crashed while they were practising a stall technique.
He said the aircraft would remain at the site for Civil Aviation Authority members - who were to fly in from Johannesburg today - to investigate.
While all three had professional pilot licences, Burger said Abdallah and Van der Watt were just beginning their aviation careers. The two were said to be in their early 20s.
Van der Watt received his award for advanced training in December.
The bodies of the three men were taken to the mortuary in Paarl.
Burger confirmed that the men's next of kin had been notified.
Van der Watt lives in Cape Town, but his family is in the US. Abdallah's is in Sudan.
"We are all very sad and very shocked," Burger said.
"They were good friends.
"We send our condolences to the families."

Cape Times
http://vne-resource.iol.co.za/22/picdb/e/c/80801

[avgaz]

For those of you who have not seen ZS-FET. My condolenses to all the families of those pilots who were tradgically killed. I am a private pilot from Cape Aero Club and i am wearing my full uniform today to pay my respect to those who died in the crash.
http://www.capeaeroclub.co.za/photogallery/BE95%20ZS-FET.jpg

[Flat_Chock]

I started flying at the Cape Aero club in 1998 and Rod was a permanent fixture around the club house. He started my twin IF rating in 2001.

What a fantastic gentleman who will be sorely missed by all who ever met him. A great instructor and a man of many stories and great laughs.

I was greatly shocked by the news but knew that what ever happened must have been totally out of there hands.

My deepest sympathy to the families of everyone involved, what a tragic, tragic accident.

Could someone keep us up to date with any funeral arrangements that might take place in the coming days, I'm sure plenty will want to pay their respects.

Rest in piece my friend!

[davidjh]

Was an instructor at CAC whilst Rod was there. Shocked to receive a call in the UK last night from "popcorn pilot" telling me this sad news. Did my twin instructors rating in FET and then did a few hours of instruction in it. Was in e-mail contact with Rod recently, so this is sad news indeed! My condolences to the families of all those involved.

[angieleigh]

ZS-FET
A sad day for us all, didnt really know Roussow and Abdullah, but am sure will be a great loss to families and the Cape Aero Club.
Rod, God needed someone to teach the Angels to fly, you were just the man!
RIP.
Condolences to the families.
Leigh & Angie

[flyboy2]

Condolences to all.
Many a hour spent doing charters in ZS-FET for George Raubenheimer out of Baragwanath & Rand.

[Cirrus SR22]

Rod Rodrigues funeral service will be held at the Dutch Reform Church Kenridge (near Durbanville) on Saturday 29 April at 10am.

The church is at the intersection of Tygervalley Road and van Riebeeckshof Road, Kenridge.

The Cape Aero Club will be holding a Memorial Service for all three pilots at the club next week sometime – at a date and time to be announced at the Saturday service.

Cape Aero Club: +27-21-934-0241.

[flyboy2]

April 28 2006 at 07:27AM By Anél Powell
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has said it is unlikely that the cause of the crash in which three Cape Aero Club pilots died on Wednesday will be known within six months.
CAA spokesperson Phindiwe Gwebu confirmed that a team from Johannesburg had visited the crash site near Camphill Village after the accident to "gather information", but no details were yet available.
It "takes longer than a few days" to establish the cause of aviation accidents, Gwebu said, and it could be as long as a year before the findings of the CAA's investigation into this week's crash on the Camphill farm near Atlantis were released.
Chief instructor Rod Rodrigues and two young instructor pilots Abdallah Mohammed and Rossouw van der Watt died when the twin-engined Beechcraft in which they were flying nose-dived into trees during a training flight.
Witnesses said the aircraft's engine "revved" before it plunged nose-first towards the ground.
Van der Watt had made his home in Cape Town, but Cape Aero Club chairperson Schalk Burger said he was originally from George.
It is understood his family is living in the US.
Mohammed's parents are in Sudan and understood to be on their way to South Africa to claim his remains.
The memorial service for chief instructor Rodrigues, who lived in Cape Town's northern suburbs, is to be held on Saturday in Kenridge.
This article was originally published on page 3 of Cape Times on April 28, 2006

[wakehead]

Unbelievable to hear of the passing of the guys. I too knew Rod really well and during my time instructing at CAC shared many good laughs with him. FET was also a special aircraft that got my career going.

I never met Rossouw, but RIP to you and Abdallah.

Rod, you are going to be sorely missed mate.