Rudolf Gaiseb
Another aircraft incident, this time involving a gyrocopter, occurred at the Eros airport in Windhoek on Thursday.
The pilot, who was the only person on board, escaped unharmed.
This follows a similar event when a Cessna 406 departing the same airport crashed into the Pioneerspark residential area on 3 May 2024.
Ben Engelbrecht, the investigator in charge under the directorate of aircraft accident and incident investigations, said the incident was not that serious, and the small aircraft was owned by a private aviator.
His name is withheld to protect his right to privacy.
According to Engelbrecht, the flight involved three circuits of take-offs and landings.
After the second circuit, the aircraft touched down, but as it tried to come to a standstill, a gust of wind flipped the aircraft to the side, making it fall, its right side hitting the ground.
The pilot only sustained a scratch on his left leg.
“The aircraft had suffered some damage to the rotor; the mask and the tail actually broke off. The aircraft doesn’t operate commercially. The pilot is based in Swakopmund – and most of the time, he is flying in Swakopmund. So, what he did was just familiarise himself with the aircraft in the Eros airport’s surroundings.
“The last time he flew was when he was coming from Swakopmund around 10 April 2024, and then he parked it for a while. On the day of the incident, he decided to fly it, familiarising himself with the aircraft and the airport, as indicated. Nonetheless, he is licensed and qualified,” Engelbrecht said.
He added, “As of now, we’ll investigate. Of course, now the weather is the first factor that we look at. We don’t suspect any technical issues because he landed safely and almost came to a complete standstill when the gush of wind all of a sudden came from the left, pummelling the aircraft to the right”.
According to the Namibia Civil Aviation Authority’s Toska Sem, the emergency personnel responded quickly, but the aircraft was damaged.