The Botswana pilot who was killed when his light aircraft crashed into a block of flats in Yeoville was training to be a commercial pilot, said a flight instructor on Tuesday.
Anastasios Vouros, who runs a flight school at the Rand Airport and owned the wrecked Piper Cherokee 140, said the pilot was qualified to fly the plane. He had been in South Africa for three years and had almost completed training for a commercial pilot’s licence.
”He was aiming to get his commercial licence before Christmas,” said Vouros.
The 35-year-old pilot came from Gaborone in Botswana. His name has not been released as his family have not been informed.
Vouros said the plane had been in ”excellent” condition, had flown only 15 to 20 hours since its last service and had computerised equipment.
He believed that the pilot had unexpectedly hit the thunderstorm and turbulence had caused the crash.
The pilot was probably caught in ”a severe downdraft and it smacked him on the ground”, he said.
”You don’t fly through storms — you get in, you don’t get out.”
Vouros said the pilot had just flown from Gaborone to Lanseria International Airport, where he cleared customs, and was flying to the Rand Airport when he crashed.
The pilot was believed to have been alone when he crashed into the four-storey Bobby Locke building at the corner of Hendon and Harley streets during a severe thunderstorm around 9pm on Monday.
Nobody on the ground was injured.
Director Govindsamy Mariemuthoo of the Gauteng police said the Botswana embassy had been informed about the pilot’s death and embassy staff would notify his family.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is investigating the crash.
”The investigators’ preliminary finding is that it could have been caused by the weather, but that is not a conclusive finding as they are still conducting their investigation,” said CAA spokesperson Phindiwe Gwebu. – Sapa