THE number of air crashes in the past week has risen to three, with at least five people killed in two separate aircraft crashes in Mpumalanga on Friday.
On Monday 10 people died in a plane crash in Germiston, one of the worst civil aviation accidents in almost twenty years.
The Civil Aviation Authority said that such a high number of incidents have not been recorded since the early 1980’s.
A graphic artist with the Lowvelder newspaper, Mariette van Rooyen, 26, her parents Corrie, 50, and Sarie, 45, and her boyfriend Fick Rabie, 25, were killed when their plane crashed in heavy mist near Lydenburg.
The four were flying a Cessna 172 to Thabazimbi when the plane, piloted by Rabie, crashed.
In the second incident, a helicopter crashed at Verena between Bronkhorstspruit and Groblersdal at about 5pm.
The aircraft is so badly damaged by fire that police are unable to ascertain how many people died in the accident.
The CAA is investigating.
At least 15 people have died in six aircraft accidents this month.