Private eye blames pilot for death crash
● Did a young pilot misjudge power lines and cause a fatal helicopter crash? Or were he and a veterinarian passenger shot down?
These questions hover over the 2018 crash in the Eastern Cape farming district of Sterkstroom after investigators blamed the crash on a bullet hole through the helicopter’s rotor blade.
The accident in the Thaba Thala Game Reserve killed Port Elizabeth vet Dr George Snyman, 32, and put the pilot in hospital for five months. It seemed inconceivable that a routine flight in clear weather to dart antelope could go so horribly wrong.
The Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) final report was released two months ago following a lengthy investigation and ballistics tests.
The report highlighted a shooting range on the farm, with the target area just 60m from the crash site. Material in the bullet hole matched that of a police ballistics test. The report said the shot probably made the pilot take evasive action and crash.
“The conclusion can be made that it was highly probable that the perforated hole was caused by a projectile/bullet that was most likely fired from a rifle/gun by a person on the ground,” the report said.
“The accident could, therefore, not be attributed to the pilot, the helicopter or the environment, but the likelihood is that a bullet was fired from the ground and impacted the main rotor of the helicopter.
“Following the shot being fired, which the pilot and passenger most probably heard considering that they were flying at low level, it could have been that the pilot related it to a catastrophic failure of some sort and, in an attempt to avoid colliding with the high-tension wires, he most probably induced a control input whereby the main rotor blades severed the tail boom and ground impact followed.”
An investigation commissioned by Snyman’s family found no conclusive evidence of a gunshot and blames pilot error.
Pilot Joshua Cilliers, 27 at the time, has no memory of the incident.
Private investigator Mike Bolhuis said his aviation expert would hand the results of his investigation to police next week.
A case of culpable homicide is still being investigated.
Snyman’s sister, Christine van Heerden, said uncertainty around the accident had been painful for the family, “especially for my mom and dad. They are shattered.”
Doubts about the CAA’s conclusions prompted the family to enlist Bolhuis and his team. “It was two years of hell, wondering what happened. Now we are back to the beginning,” Van Heerden said.
Danie Cilliers, brother of the pilot, commended the CAA and said its findings corroborated “rumours” about the helicopter having come under fire. Other pilots had reported similar incidents, possibly related to fears around wildlife poaching, he said.
CAA spokesperson Kabelo Ledwaba said the organisation stood by its report. “The content of our final report that has been published is factual and is supported by evidence, and hence the accident and incident investigation team stands firmly with the contents of the report as well as its findings and conclusion,” he said.
Wouter Botes, a pilot and aviation investigator, said the bullet theory was not only farfetched but largely irrelevant.
Analysis of the alleged bullet hole showed it was not substantial enough to have caused the crash, he said. A more plausible explanation was that the pilot had not seen the power lines.
“We were appointed by the deceased’s family to reconstruct the sequence of events and determine what caused the accident. We also consulted with many experts in the aviation industry to confirm our findings,” Botes said.
Thaba Thala reserve could not be reached for comment.