NEWS : 1 Fatality and 19 injured after a devastating Plane Crash in South Africa
The aircraft in question was a Convair C-131D operated by MAC Martin’s Air Charter – a Dutch cargo company which is part of the Air France – KLM group. The tail number is believed to be ZS-BRV but we are waiting confirmation on this.
Convair used to be an American aircraft manufacturer and over the years have been bought over by companies such as Hughs Aircraft Company, McDonnell Douglas and now owned by Boeing.
The Convair C-131D ceased production in 1956 with the C-131D family first taking flight in 1949, making this aircraft atleast 62 years old. It’s difficult to say at this point but with an alleged engine failure this may be down to age or poor maintenance.
As shown below you can see a smoke trail from the number 1 engine shortly after take-off, at such a critical phase of flight and with one engine malfunctioning its safe to say the aircraft could not maintain a high enough airspeed for the wings to generate lift.
The aircraft crashed just outside the airport in Wonderboom, Pretoria where emergency services responded initially stating 20 people were injured with 2 in a critical condition. We now know that one of these injured have died, our thoughts go out to the friends and family of the deceased.
The C-131D crashed into factory building as it was trying to turn back to the airport and make an emergency landing. A crash team are already onsite to begin the investigation and understand what caused this plane crash.
©Timothy Brandt
©Picssr
