Riddle remains over deadly Cessna crash

THE exact cause of an intriguing plane crash that claimed the life of a young pilot near Wlotzkasbaken ten months ago remains uncertain after the official investigation of the incident came to an inconclusive end.

The report on the Directorate of Aircraft Accident Investigations’ probe into the crash was released on Friday last week. In the report, the cause of the accident has been identified as an in-flight break-up of the Cessna T210N aircraft that pilot Petrus van der Walt was flying from Twyfelfontein to Swakopmund when the incident happened on April 1 last year.The cause of the in-flight break-up of the aircraft could not be determined with certainty, though, the report indicates.Aircraft accident investigator Theo Shilongo, who carried out the investigation, stated in the report: ‘The investigations revealed that the pilot might have abruptly pulled back on the control column. This action could have exceeded the maximum structural design limit of the aircraft, which led to the aircraft disintegrating in flight. However, the investigation could not positively establish as to why and/or what could have led to the pilot’s action.’Van der Walt (24) was flying from Twyfelfontein, where he had dropped off tourists, to Swakopmund when the crash happened about 20 kilometres north-east of Wlotzkasbaken. The aircraft he was flying in was a Cessna T210N, operated by air charter company Sefofane Namibia. The aeroplane, bearing the registration V5-BAT, was manufactured in 1982.Van der Walt last had radio contact with air traffic controllers at Walvis Bay at about 12h31 that day, when he stated that his estimated time of arrival at Swakopmund would be 12h46, it is stated in the investigation report. Between the time of the last radio call and 12h39, the fatal crash happened.By about 14h15 an emergency signal was picked up by a facility in Johannesburg. The signal came from the area where the plane had plunged out of the air.Wreckage of the aircraft was found scattered over an extended area, prompting suspicions that the aeroplane had broken up in flight.In the accident report it is stated that no evidence was found that the aircraft had any mechanical defects. The last annual inspection of the plane was done on March 23 last year, nine days before the crash. The aircraft had flown only a further 37 hours before the accident took place.Van der Walt, who had about 391 hours of flying experience, was in good health at the time of the incident, it was also established with the investigation.The last two speed readings recorded by the aircraft’s flight data system were at 12h37, when its speed decreased from 177 knots (about 328 km/h) to 88 knots (about 163 km/h), the report states. ‘The vast sudden decrease in ground speed over a very short horizontal distance is indicative of an abrupt change of the flight path from horizontal to vertical,’ it is also stated.Parts of the aircraft were found scattered over a distance of about 960 metres. The engine, for instance, struck the ground about 150 metres from the point where the fuselage fell.’Although the exact sequence of the break-up could not be established, it can be assumed with certainty that an in flight break-up occurred,’ it is stated in the report.Shilongo recommends in the report that pilots should not make abrupt movements of the aircraft controls or carry out any prohibited manoeuvres while flying, to avoid similar accidents from happening in the future.