Aircraft in landing mishap at Skeleton Coast airstrip

A PILOT and two German tourists had a lucky escape at an isolated airfield in the Skeleton Coast Park on Saturday when the light aircraft in which they were travelling ended up on its roof following a landing.

The Cessna 206 aircraft involved in the incident had landed at an airstrip at the Khumib River, near the Skeleton Coast Camp of tour operators Wilderness Safaris, at around 11h40 on Saturday when it flipped over onto its roof, Rob Moffett, Director: Marketing and Sales for Wilderness Safaris, told The Namibian yesterday. The airstrip is northeast of Rocky Point on the Skeleton Coast, where Wilderness Safaris has a tourism concession.Moffett said the pilot and two passengers were coming from the Hartmann Valley in the remote northwest of the Kunene Region.Having landed at the Khumib River airstrip the aircraft was luckily already at low speed when the incident took place, Moffett said.He said the pilot and both passengers emerged unscathed from the aircraft, operated by Sefofane Air Charters, which is connected to Wilderness Safaris.The cause of the incident – whether the result of wind shear or something else – is under official investigation, Moffett said.He said Wilderness Safaris offered to fly the tourists back to Windhoek after the incident, but undeterred by the mishap they opted to stay on at the company’s camp and to continue with their safari as planned.Saturday’s accident is the second incident involving a Sefofane Air Charters and Wilderness Safaris flight in a little over a month.On June 21, a Cessna 210 aircraft carrying a pilot and two Argentinian passengers on a flight from the Sossusvlei area to Hosea Kutako International Airport east of Windhoek carried out a flawless emergency landing on a gravel road southwest of Rehoboth after developing engine problems.All three people on board that flight also emerged without any injuries.The airstrip is northeast of Rocky Point on the Skeleton Coast, where Wilderness Safaris has a tourism concession.Moffett said the pilot and two passengers were coming from the Hartmann Valley in the remote northwest of the Kunene Region.Having landed at the Khumib River airstrip the aircraft was luckily already at low speed when the incident took place, Moffett said.He said the pilot and both passengers emerged unscathed from the aircraft, operated by Sefofane Air Charters, which is connected to Wilderness Safaris.The cause of the incident – whether the result of wind shear or something else – is under official investigation, Moffett said.He said Wilderness Safaris offered to fly the tourists back to Windhoek after the incident, but undeterred by the mishap they opted to stay on at the company’s camp and to continue with their safari as planned.Saturday’s accident is the second incident involving a Sefofane Air Charters and Wilderness Safaris flight in a little over a month.On June 21, a Cessna 210 aircraft carrying a pilot and two Argentinian passengers on a flight from the Sossusvlei area to Hosea Kutako International Airport east of Windhoek carried out a flawless emergency landing on a gravel road southwest of Rehoboth after developing engine problems.All three people on board that flight also emerged without any injuries.