Police aircraft crashes just after takeoff at Rand Airport, killing five people

Five people have died after a light police aircraft crashed at the Rand Airport in Germiston on Tuesday afternoon.

The crash took place around 2pm, according to Netcare 911.

Six people – including the pilot – were on board when a SAPS PC-6 Turbo Porter aircraft crashed shortly after taking off the runway at the airport.

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One person was airlifted to the hospital.

When medics arrived at the scene they found that an aircraft had crashed towards the end of the runway [and] on close inspection it was found that five people had died and one had sustained critical injuries. The patient with critical injuries was airlifted to hospital via a private air ambulance.

Officials from South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) and the police were at the scene, and will conduct investigations into the crash.

The South African Police Service (SAPS) also confirmed the crash, and said the details of the deceased and injured pilot will be released once their next of kin have been informed