This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can
submit corrected information.
Date: | Tuesday 4 March 1975 |
Time: | c. 09:30 |
Type: | Piper PA-28-235 |
Owner/operator: | Vryheid Flying Club |
Registration: | ZS-ESP |
MSN: | 28-10751 |
Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
Location: | Giant's Castle, Drakensberg, KZN -
South Africa
|
Phase: | En route |
Nature: | Private |
Departure airport: | FAVY (Vryheid) |
Destination airport: | FAPM (Oribi Pietermaritzburg) |
Confidence Rating: | Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Narrative:The charter flight departed Vryheid airport at 06:15 for Oribi airport at Pietermaritzburg, where it was due to arrive at 07:00. At 09:15 the pilot reported that he was over Loskop, north-west of Estcourt - a town in the KZN midlands - and was turning back because of low cloud at his destination. The aircraft failed to arrive and a search was initiated. No sign of the aircraft could be found and after some weeks the search was called off. On May 26, 1975 a party of hikers on their way to Bannerman Hut in the Giant's Castle region of the Drakensberg mountain range came upon the wreck of the Cherokee with the remains of the two occupants. The aircraft had crashed some 300m above the contour path on a ridge between Langalibalele Pass and Bannerman Pass at a height of 3,000m. The aircraft was 60 nautical miles off course.
Sources:
The book Fields of Air by James Byrom
Published in 1993 by Ashanti Publishing
Civil Aircraft Registers of Africa
Air-Britain
Revision history:
Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
24-Mar-2017 08:43 |
Topaz |
Added |
24-Mar-2017 08:45 |
Topaz |
Updated [Aircraft type] |
05-Jan-2019 13:52 |
Cobar |
Updated [Cn, Source] |