WINDHOEK
A privately registered helicopter with Namibian registration number V5-HFW, belonging to Jannie Swart from the Dordabis area crashed on Friday morning, killing the pilot on board.
According to chief public relations officer in the Ministry of Works and Transport Julius Ngweda, the V5-HFW helicopter took off from Eros Airport at 05h50 to its destination with only the pilot on board.
“After the helicopter did not reach to the destination the people on the farm called the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) and reported that the helicopter did not reach its destination,” Ngweda said in a media statement issued on Saturday.
The deceased pilot was Lambert Roux from Kamanjab in the Kunene Region. He was a freelance pilot. His next of kin have since been informed. The helicopter is said to belong to the Etosha Helicopters Company. Roux was the only occupant in the helicopter at the time of the incident.
Roux departed from Hosea Kutako International Airport (HKIA) in a small helicopter and was on his way to a farm in the Gobabis area, but never made it there.
Nampol’s helicopter was immediately dispatched for search and rescue and the wreckage was located some 17 nautical miles southwest of HKIA. The investigations into the latest aircraft accident have already started and progressing well, aviation sources said.
“Our deepest sympathy goes to the bereaved family and those affected as a result of this unfortunate accident, further stated the chief public relations officer,” Ngweda said.
On January 29 last year a a privately registered Cessna 425 belonging to Eros Air Charter Company, a subsidiary of the Olthaver and List Group, crashed about one nautical mile north of the runway at Hosea Kutako International Airport at around 09h30.
The aircraft with three experienced pilots on board – among them a chief pilot, a freelance pilot and an Air Namibia captain – hit the ground close to Hosea Kutako International Airport, instantly killing all three pilots. The plane was undergoing a number of routine tests at the time when it hit the ground and burst into flames in a post-impact fire. – Additional reporting: Nampa