The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) has assigned a team of investigators to probe the cause or causes of an aircraft accident that occurred on Wednesday, 10 July 2018, at around 16:30 (South African local time).
The accident happened north of Pretoria soon after take-off.
SACAA says the investigation is still at an early stage and therefore some details are yet to be verified. Notwithstanding, the following can be confirmed:
The aircraft, Convair 340, registered in South with a Certificate of Airworthiness which was due to expire on 15 August 2018, took off from the Wonderboom Airport (FAWB), Gauteng Province with the point of intended landing to be Pilanesberg.
The aircraft, owned by Rovos Rail Tours (Pty) Ltd, had a total of nineteen (19) persons on board which consisted of 16 passengers and three flight crew members (two pilots and a fight engineer). The nationalities of the persons have been identified to be three (3) from the Netherlands, 14 South Africans, and two (2) Australians.
SACAA says there were a number of serious injuries with one fatal injury confirmed on the accident scene. In addition, three people who were on the ground were injured; one of them confirmed dead.
SACAA appeals to all stakeholders concerned, to give the investigating team the space and time to thoroughly investigate the cause of the accident.
“Investigations can vary in complexity and may at times take a significant time to complete. However, a preliminary report will be issued within 30 days of the accident; and in instances where an investigation takes longer than 12 months, the investigation team would then issue an interim statement to indicate the progress made at that particular point in time,” SACAA adds.