AIID releases details on pilot’s death near Ngodwana
The crash took place at a Sappi plantation near Ngodwana in June, when Justin van As was responding to an aerial firefighting operation.
The Accident and Incident Investigations Division (AIID) of the South African Civil Aviation Authority recently released the preliminary report surrounding the aircraft crash that claimed the Kishugu Aviation aerial firefighting pilot, Justin van As (49).
The crash was reported on June 21 at a Sappi plantation in Nooitgedacht near Ngodwana. Van As had taken off from the old Nelspruit Airport to respond to an aerial firefighting operation.
The report, published on July 19, said Van As had boarded an Air Tractor AT-802A with registration ZS-TFH. “The flight was conducted under visual flight rules and under visual meteorological conditions by day. The flight was also conducted under the provisions of Part 137 of the Civil Aviation Regulations (CAR) 2011 as amended.
“The pilot took off with a load of water and released the first load on the left side of the aircraft’s approach and, thereafter, flew to Elandshoogte Airfield Runway 27 to refill the hopper with more water. The aircraft took off again to the fire scene. After the pilot had released the second load of water on the right side of the fire, the aircraft crashed on the rising terrain.
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“Video footage recorded by a spotter aircraft in the vicinity, shows the aircraft releasing its second water load and impacting the rising terrain and, thereafter, bursting into flames.
“It catapulted forwards for approximately 250m before it came to rest in an inverted orientation facing north. The pilot was fatally injured, and the aircraft was destroyed by post-impact fire,” stated the report.
This information was derived from the information gathered during the ongoing investigation into the occurrence. It said AIID had appointed an investigator-in-charge to lead the investigation. The division will lead the investigation and issue the final report of this accident. The interim or final report may contain altered information in case new evidence is found during the ongoing investigation, that will require changes to the information depicted in this report.
Van As was born in Klerksdorp and had joined Kishugu Aviation as a fixed-wing water bomber pilot in 2019.
