One person died and two were missing after a helicopter crash outside Durban on Friday night, KwaZulu-Natal police said.
”I saw it circle and then go down into the trees … There was a loud bang,” said witness Erinn Demsey. She had run out to her veranda, overlooking the crash site, when she heard the loud hum of the helicopter’s propellers.
She and her mother ran to investigate and found the helicopter wedged in pine trees.
”It’s just a total wreck,” said ER24 spokesperson Neil Noble.
The Bell Jet Ranger ploughed into pine trees on a hillside near the Shongwani Dam, 35km from Durban.
Visibility on the scene was minimal and emergency workers could not rely on generators to provide light because of the flammable fuel sprayed when the helicopter crashed, said Noble.
The uneven terrain was also making access to the crash site hazardous for emergency workers, he said.
The chopper had been on its way from Durban’s Virginia Airport to the Midmar Dam at the time of the crash, said police search-and-rescue unit commander Troy Allison.
Air-traffic control lost contact with the helicopter shortly before 8pm.
”They heard nothing else until a call from the public reported hearing the [helicopter] and then a loud bang … The police and emergency services were immediately dispatched to search the site,” he said.
Allison said the police and the Civil Aviation Authority would launch a joint investigation at first light on Saturday.
Earlier, Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha had said police were searching for the two missing people. It was thought they might have walked away from the crash site. — Sapa