‘Mantoetse Maama
MASERU — At least 14 people died after a South African Defence Force (SANDF) aircraft crashed in the Drakensburg Mountains on Wednesday. In a press statement on Thursday, the Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) said the South African Air Force (SAAF) aircraft went out of control soon after flying past Ladysmith. “It is suspected that it crashed due to bad weather into the Drakensburg Mountains either on the South African or Lesotho side. The aircraft was on the way from Pretoria to Mthatha, Eastern Cape,” the LDF said. The army said efforts to rescue potential survivors and the wreckage were hampered by bad weather.
“The wreckage was found in the general area of ‘Malefiloane Valley in Mokhotlong along the Lesotho-South Africa border near Giant Castle,” the statement said. Major Ntlele Ntoi, LDF public affairs officer, said the LDF air wing received an emergency call from the South African embassy. “The SAAF informed their embassy in Lesotho about the emergency when they lost contact with their colleagues. The embassy informed the LDF Air Wing to help them with the search of the aircraft,” Major Ntoi said. He said he did not have the number of passengers who were on board when the plane crashed. “We don’t have the number of passengers who were on board. I don’t even know its capacity but it’s a DC-3,” he said. DC-3 aircraft normally carry 21 passengers. Meanwhile, News24 reported on Friday that the Dakota was not equipped to fly in bad weather conditions, according to a civilian pilot.
Pilot Chris Briers, who has extensive experience with Dakotas, told a South African daily newspaper, Beeld, that the flight must have been a nightmare. “Dakotas are not pressurised, so they can’t fly as high as planes that are. They fly at a limit of about 12 000 feet, and the Drakensberg is 11 000 feet. “That leaves very little room for error. Something must have gone horribly wrong. From the last radio contact you can deduce that their sight was nil and they only had the plane’s instruments to help them. The fact is, they should never have been there in those conditions,” he said. “In a thunderstorm, ice on the wings and turbulence are the biggest problems in a Dakota. The ice makes the plane heavy and unresponsive. It also struggles to maintain or reach heights.”
He said that there could be nasty surprises during a storm, like hail that could smash the windscreen.
Pilots are safety conscious and wouldn’t have taken unnecessary risks, he added. News24 said there was initial speculation that former president Nelson Mandela’s medical team may have been on board the doomed plane. This was denied, but a consignment of medicine was believed to have been on board, and this may be the reason the plane flew. The SANDF later denied that Mandela’s medicine was on board.
The five passengers on board were a relief team to replace the security personnel guarding the Mthatha Airport.