Three escape injury in aircraft fire

A PILOT and two passengers escaped unscathed from a Cessna 182 aeroplane that burst into flames following a landing at an airstrip on a farm in the Omaruru area late on Thursday.

The aeroplane, piloted by farmer Hartwig von Seydlitz, burnt out completely after it had made a landing at an airstrip at the farm Okongwe at about 18h15 on Thursday, Ericsson Nengola, the Acting Director of Aircraft Accident Investigations in the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communications, told The Namibian on Monday. The pilot and two passengers on board managed to escape from the plane before it was completely destroyed by fire.The airstrip where the incident took place is about 30 kilometres north of Omaruru.According to Nengola, who visited the accident site on Friday and again on Saturday, the flight that ended with the landing at the farm had started at Swakopmund Airport at about 16h30 on Thursday.”The aircraft caught fire on landing and was completely destroyed,” he said, adding that an investigation into the accident is under way.The aircraft – a Cessna 182 M with the registration number V5-SVS – was manufactured in 1969 and was first registered in Namibia in 1991, Nengola said.The aeroplane had a clean mechanical record, he indicated.Nengola said the aircraft’s engine had been collected from the scene of the accident on Saturday.Because qualified aircraft engineers with sufficient knowledge of the Cessna 182’s engine are available in Namibia, the engine would now be taken apart in Windhoek and examined by an independent person to see if any apparent mechanical faults can be detected, he said.The pilot and two passengers on board managed to escape from the plane before it was completely destroyed by fire.The airstrip where the incident took place is about 30 kilometres north of Omaruru.According to Nengola, who visited the accident site on Friday and again on Saturday, the flight that ended with the landing at the farm had started at Swakopmund Airport at about 16h30 on Thursday.”The aircraft caught fire on landing and was completely destroyed,” he said, adding that an investigation into the accident is under way.The aircraft – a Cessna 182 M with the registration number V5-SVS – was manufactured in 1969 and was first registered in Namibia in 1991, Nengola said.The aeroplane had a clean mechanical record, he indicated.Nengola said the aircraft’s engine had been collected from the scene of the accident on Saturday.Because qualified aircraft engineers with sufficient knowledge of the Cessna 182’s engine are available in Namibia, the engine would now be taken apart in Windhoek and examined by an independent person to see if any apparent mechanical faults can be detected, he said.