Tributes have been pouring in for the German family killed in the Desert Air crash last Sunday.
The Desert Air plane left from a private airstrip at Hosea Kutako International Airport near Windhoek on Sunday morning, 10 May, enroute to Sossusvlei, when it crashed near Hammerstein Lodge in the south western part of the country. It was carrying three family members as well as pilot Martin Funck.
The Lohmiller family was well known in the German state of Baden-Württenberg. Richard Lohmiller was a long time member of a board and chief executive officer of Kaufland Germany – a massive German hypermarket chain that forms part of the Schwarz conglomerate.
“[He] was one of the defining pillars of the company for over four decades. During his long career, he played a key role in shaping the development of Kaufland – including as a member of the Board and as CEO of Kaufland Germany. For many years, his work was instrumental to the success and growth of the retail business,” the Schwarz group said.
The family were long-time residents of the city of Heilbronn. The Heilbronn mayor Harry Mergel told local media that he was deeply affected by their deaths.
The third passenger on board was the couple’s son Henry (19), who also died in the crash.
“We have lost three special and wonderful people. [They were an] inspiration, my mentors, and above all true friends for life,” Mergel said.
He added: “The family still had so many plans together, which makes this tragedy that much more awful and unreal.”
Silke Lohmiller was also a long-time employee of the Schwarz group. She had served in various leadership positions before taking over as director of education at the Dieter-Schwarz-Foundation, the non-profit arm of the group.
“We are grieving not only an esteemed colleague, but also a particularly warm-hearted person whom we will miss very much,” chairman of the board of the foundation Reinhold Geilsdörfer said.
“The companies of Schwarz Group bid farewell in deep mourning to Richard and Silke Lohmiller, two personalities whose life paths remain inseparably linked to the history and success of the group of companies,” the Schwarz group said. The wreck of the aircraft was discovered last Monday and Desert Air confirmed the deaths of all on board. “It is with great sadness that we confirm the passing of one of our pilots and the three passengers who were on board the aircraft that went missing on 10 May 2026 in the Sossusvlei area. The wreckage of the aircraft was located this morning (Monday). Sadly, there were no survivors,” Desert Air chief executive officer Willem de Wet said in a press release last Monday.
The Aircraft Accident/Incident Investigation unit is continuing its investigation into the cause of the crash.
“Preliminary reports say that the weather was very bad and the mountain was covered in fog. However, we can’t really say this was the cause of the accident [as investigations are still ongoing],” investigator Ben Engelbrecht told The Namibian yesterday.
German media reports had stated that the body of Silke Lohmiller was not found together with the other three victims. On Friday, a helicopter went looking for the missing body. A full police report is expected later today.
