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ZU-CVH crash at FAFK

Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2013 1:09 pm
by jtresfon
Ouch! Thankfully looks like no serious injuries to pilot & pax, but poor CVH is going to need some TLC... Not sure why the grass is particularly dangerous for gyro's as opposed to any other aircraft though???

From www.iol.co.za:
ZU-CVH Crash.jpg
ZU-CVH Crash.jpg (47.02 KiB) Viewed 3035 times
Cape Town - A man aboard a gyrocopter suffered minor injuries when it crashed at the Fisantekraal Airfield near Durbanville.

It was not clear by late on Monday whether the pilot or passenger in the aircraft had been injured, but according to witnesses one of the two had injured a hand.

It was also not confirmed whether the crash occurred during the landing or the take-off.

City of Cape Town fire and rescue services spokesman Theo Layne said rescuers were called to the scene with reports that a “mini helicopter crash-landed”.

“But I cannot confirm what happened. When our officers arrived, the aircraft was already on the ground.”

He said rescue teams were alerted at 3.06pm.

Layne said there was no fire to extinguish, but he added that paramedics stabilised the two occupants who were taken to hospital.

At the time of going to press, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spokeswoman Phindile Gwebu could only confirm that “an accident had happened” on Monday.

Police were at the scene while investigators were inspecting the wreckage of the yellow aircraft late on Monday afternoon.

It is believed that the occupants were members of the Aerosport flying club based at the airfield.

Some members arrived at the base to find out what had happened.

Hannie van Wyk, whose husband runs the club, said the incident happened very quickly.

“It was an accident and we’re just grateful nobody was seriously injured,” she said.

Johan Badenhorst, who has an aircraft at the base, said the CAA should inspect the grounds - particularly the landing area, where patches of grass were growing thick.

He said that the grass bushes were a problem because they were dangerous, particularly for gyrocopters.

“It was bound to happen,” he said.

He said that the grass interfered with a safe landing.

“This is a training school and we pay rent here where these grounds are supposed to be maintained. This is life threatening,” he said, pointing to the grass.

Regards
Jean.

Re: ZU-CVH crash at FAFK

Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2013 2:49 pm
by nicow
Glad the pilot & pax are ok...

Re: ZU-CVH crash at FAFK

Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2013 10:01 pm
by Equiril
Damn...and I was being trained on that aircraft! Pity about poor condition of the runway and facilities in general though for the air school is well established, the instructor is highly professional and one of the best in this country. Hopefully this has repercussions for the owner(s) of the airfield.

Re: ZU-CVH crash at FAFK

Posted: Wed Aug 21, 2013 12:55 pm
by Gregcopter
I would like to see pictures of FAFK, - I'm not sure about the grass issue on the runway unless it is really extensive and should then have been declared unsafe in the first place!!

I'm really glad that the guys are ok and we need to learn from this.

Re: ZU-CVH crash at FAFK

Posted: Wed Aug 21, 2013 2:38 pm
by Karman
Some pics
http://www.avcom.co.za/phpBB3/viewtopic ... 5#p1303544

Runway itself is clean from grass, although cement is starting to break up.. The taxiways are another story

Re: ZU-CVH crash at FAFK

Posted: Wed Aug 21, 2013 3:45 pm
by John.com
I would imagine that in places this grass could pose a problem on takeoff and landing :shock:
Fisantekraal - Grass on Runway_1.JPG

Re: ZU-CVH crash at FAFK

Posted: Wed Aug 21, 2013 4:20 pm
by Karman
The grass seen there is between the taxi and runway so not an issue.

Here another angle that make look even worst ;-) (-)
small__small__DSC_0613_03.JPG

Re: ZU-CVH crash at FAFK

Posted: Fri Aug 23, 2013 9:05 am
by Gregcopter
TX for the photo's. Killing the grass is the obvious thing to do but I cant help thinking that the runway is unsafe. The grass growing in the cracks is the net effect of a runway that is breaking up. Life is often about inches - rather safe than sorry!!

Re: ZU-CVH crash at FAFK

Posted: Fri Aug 23, 2013 9:19 am
by Barnabas
Hi guys,

Does anyone know what actually happened here, is the poor runway condition the reason for the crash?

:?: :?: