This report is to promote aviation safety and not to establish legal liability.
The CAA's report contains padding, repetition, poor English and incompetence. In the interest of clarity and readability I have corrected and paraphrased extensively.
Aircraft: powered glider Pipistrel D.O.O Taurus
Date of Accident: 10 August 2012
Time of Accident: 11:06Z
Registration: ZU-GAN Pilot-in-command Licence Type: Glider / PPL Age: 55
Licence Valid: Yes
Pilot-in-command Flying Experience: Total Flying
80.2 Hours on Type 80.2 Hours
Last point of departure: El Mirador (FALQ)
Next point of intended landing: El Mirador (FALQ)
Location of the accident: Game reserve in Winterton.
Meteorological Information: CAVOK wind 350/04
Number of people on board: 1 + 0
Number of people injured: 0
Number of people killed: 1
SYNOPSIS
History of Flight
Three witnesses all made substantially the same statements. They saw the wings of the aircraft flexing and oscillating up and down along the entire span and it was also longitudinally unstable. They also noticed the wheel bay doors opening and closing in time with the pitching oscillations.
The chute was deployed but failed to blossom and appeared to suffer shroud line failure. The resultant drag appeared to pitch the aircraft's nose up; it dropped its right wing and dived vertically into the ground.
The engine, airframe and propeller had done only 15 hours since new.
The pilot was fatally injured. The post mortem found multiple rib fractures, lacerations of the heart, fracture of the spine at three places, crushed cauda equine at lumbar spine No.2. Cause of death was a blunt trauma to the chest.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Iris - her early years: IRIS FLIES ACROSS SUDAN
Laura McDermid continues her stories about Iris McCallum's early years in East Africa and the Sudan. In part 1 of this story she recounts how she had to fly a bunch of Belgian Missionaries to Aweil, a city in northwestern South Sudan, from Wilson in Nairobi in her old mate 'ARN', the Piper Aztec 5Y-ARN.
UGLY IS PRETTY: LEAR 25 VS PILATUS PC-6
When you go to a party where you don't know anybody, you should always go for the 'Ugly' girl, because she will be happy that you chose to spend time with her.
CIRRUS G7 LAUNCHED IN AFRICA
What makes one aircraft better than another? Range, Speed, or carrying capacity, short field performance, operating costs, high wing, low wing, side stick, traditional control yoke?
PRESIDENT'S TROPHY AIR RACE 2024
The annual Presidents Trophy Air Race (PTAR) is the highlight of the year for many competitive general aviation pilots.
THE ABSA LOWVELD AIRSHOW 2024
This year marked the thirtieth edition of the Lowveld airshow – and it was widely acclaimed as the best ever.
PREVIEW: AFRICAN AEROSPACE AND DEFENCE EXPO(AAD)
Guy Leitch finds out from AAD Exhibition Director, Ms Nakedi Phasha, how the buildup to this year's biennial expo is going, and what visitors and exhibitors can expect.
APRIL 2023
April has been a very quiet month on the local aviation marketplace with only nine new registration allocations and three deletions, according to the officially-supplied register review.
PIPISTREL PANTHERA FINALLY HERE
One of the world's most eagerly awaited piston single engine aircraft designs has finally arrived in South Africa. ZU-KTR is a long awaited Panthera, proudly owned by Bertus Kritzinger, a Free State trucker, and based at New Tempe in Bloemfontein, where the well-known Ferriera Aviation has assembled it.
STAGGERWING - ALREADY OLD WHEN NEW
The Staggerwing was the climax, and the end, of an era.
The Aim of Bombing
In modern warfare it's not the soldiers who die - it's the civilians. One of the best examples of this is carpet bombing.
