Plane crashes into house near Durban

[4HolerPoler]

Another prang -

Two people were killed when their light aircraft crashed into a house north of Durban on Friday afternoon. Details were not immediately available, but it is believed the plane crashed into a house in Ndwedwe. Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha said: "At this stage we do not know if anyone was in the house."

RIP

[Irene]

It was apparently ZS-KOW, a C182 that crashed on the R614 between Tongaat and Wartburg, Valley of a Thousand Hills, KZN. Two occupants dead. ATNS say the FPL was for Ficksburg and SAPS Airwing say that they couldn't reach the crash site in their B3 Squirrel helicopter because the cloud was on the deck and in heavy rain.

I agree RIP, but what is it that drives pilots to kill themselves every year, at the beginning of summer in the valley of a thousand hills? Also, what is so scary about maintaining level wings and best rate of climb until talking to ATC to get vectors towards Australia where there is no cumulo-granites?

[4HolerPoler]

Latest on this sad and almost certainly avoidable event:

The pilot of a light aircraft was killed when his plane crashed into a house north of Durban on Friday afternoon. Witnesses at Sgodiphola, 40km north of Tongaat on the R614 road to Greytown, said the plane was already in flames before it hit the house in foggy weather. The house and the plane went up in flames on impact, killing the pilot instantly. Details of the pilot have not been released yet, and occupants of the house were not home. It is believed that the aircraft took off from Virginia airport in Durban. Emergency services raced to the scene from as far field as Durban, 70km away. There was initial confusion as to the location of the crash with numerous emergency vehicles initially racing towards Ndwedwe. The police air wing and GPS navigation systems were used to locate the crash scene. All that was left of the plane was the tail of the plane, the burnt out engine and the tip of one of the plane's wings. It was not immediately known what type of aircraft it was. Civil Aviation authorities were expected to visit the crash scene on Saturday.

[choppadriva]

'I can still hear his voice on the radio'
David Daniel, a pilot and air traffic controller at La Mercy airfield, said they had warned Van Niekerk he was flying too low.

"I asked him if he was familiar with the area and he replied 'no'. I warned him it was not a good idea to fly on, as this area was very hazardous, had many mountains and the clouds were clearly down to the deck," said Daniel.

"He said he would try to go further north. I advised him to rather turn back.

"He said thanks for the advice and went ahead.

"I again asked him not to continue, I repeated that I knew the conditions and the area well, having flown there for eight years, and advised that he abort and return to Virginia. That was the last we heard from him," he said.

Ten minutes later Van Niekerk's plane had crashed into an empty hut and he was dead.

"We were the closest airstrip to the crash site and we tried to fly a microlight there, but we had to make a turn back because of the clouds and bad weather," said Daniel.

"I can still hear his voice on the radio.

"Where do you stop trying to be responsible for other pilots' flying?" Daniel asked.

[Solid Rust Twotter]

No interview was given AFAIK. This was lifted from another website and polished to tug at the heartstrings by sleazy journos.:hmm: :rolleyes: