HERO PILOT WHO DIED TO SAVE HIS FOUR PALS

charred individuals stumbling down the road waving him down.

“Dangers in Africa could have meant attackers were chasing us. He did not know if stopping put them in danger. I remember him say sorry for not stopping straight away and he said, ‘Don’t worry you are safe now, we will help you’. A woman gave first aid.”

Michelle launched an online fundraiser to thank the locals who aided her. She added: “There were 50 workers on the trucks and so many helped. They gave us comfort, called for help and gave the coats off their backs despite having so little. Thank you is insufficient and inadequate. I wish you all abundant joy.”

The report said ambulances rushed to the remote Elandshoek Valley, 30 miles from where the party had taken off from at Nelspruit, in Mpumulanga Province.

David, Michelle and Sharlene, from Bishop’s Stortford, Herts, had flown to South Africa to meet up with their sister Tania, who lives there.

They left Nelspruit at 3pm and were heading for Wonderboom, near Pretoria, when they hit thick cloud at 7,000ft. The report revealed Michelle was only qualified to fly by sight and descended in the hope of regaining visibility. She inadvertently dropped into a cloud-covered valley and handed control to David, who was qualified to fly by instruments.

VISIBILITY

The report said: “The Pilot In Control (Michelle) reported that at 7,000ft clouds developed round the aircraft and she reduced height to maintain visibility.

“The aircraft was unintentionally flown into a valley which was also covered with clouds and she made a 180 degree turn but was still in the cloud.

“She handed over controls to the Pilot Monitoring (David). The aircraft’s height

THE PLANE Five were on doomed Cessna THE SCENE Smouldering wreck of aircraft