Danville Avenue plane crash survivors thank community
In 2005, Gerhard Huber, his wife, Monika, sister-in-law Alexandra and children Adam and Felicitas, were on a light aircraft, piloted by Alistair Freeman, were taking in an aerial view of Durban when disaster struck.
IT has been 14 years since a family from Austria miraculously survived after the plane they were travelling in crashed, nose first, through the roof a Danville Avenue home. In 2005, Gerhard Huber, his wife, Monika, sister-in-law Alexandra and children Adam and Felicitas, were on a light aircraft, piloted by Alistair Freeman, were taking in an aerial view of Durban when disaster struck.
The plane, a Britten-Norman Islander, nose-dived after an engine malfunction into the dining room and kitchen of local resident, Alwyn Field. Fortunately no one was at home at the time and the family came out with a few bumps and scratches with nothing too life-threatening.
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The family recently met with one of the first people on the scene to assist in the rescue, Gords Reid, to toast what the Huber and his family call their ‘second birthday’.
“Gerhard and his family were actually meant to travel to northern Mozambique for a holiday but Cyclone Idai was wreaking havoc in the country so they decided to come to Durban. My family and Gerhard’s family had dinner together and they toasted their second birthday, which they say is their second chance of life. The also thanked everyone who assisted and helped with their rescue on the day, I was only one of a number of residents who sprung into action and helped the family after the crash,” Reid said.
In 2015, Reid and other residents involved in the rescue were gifted a book documenting what happened on that fateful day in August 2005.
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“Gerhard told me that each year, they toast to their life on 21 August when the crash happened. They’ve been out three times to Durban and each time they meet with those who helped them. It is truly a miraculous story because there were so many factors that could’ve ended in tragedy. We also went through the book that Gerhard and his family gave to us to show their thanks and we reminisced about that day. They’ve been so kind and they’ve invited my family to Austria for a skiing trip which we’d love to take up at a later stage,” he said.
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