The South African Civil Aviation Authority’s (SACAA) preliminary report on the Vuwani light aircraft crash has revealed that the pilot operated the plane with an expired license.
The light aircraft, which was carrying a pilot and two passengers, crashed after taking off from a private airfield near Nandoni dam (Levubu residential zone) outside Thohoyandou on Sunday, 23 March 2025. It was enroute to Louis Trichardt in the province’s Vhembe district.
The crash left the pilot and front passenger seriously injured while the passenger who was seated in the back seat sustained minor injury.
The occupants were all taken to the Polokwane Medi-clinic and subsequently discharged on the same day.
The SACAA accident and Incident Investigations Division immediately established that the pilot performed a forced landing due to the engine stoppage.
“On 21 April 2024, the pilot aborted take-off due to a bug that had lodged in the pitot tube and, as a result, caused the airspeed readings to remain at zero.
“The pilot could not bring the aircraft to a safe stop on the remaining runway and he decided to exit to the right to minimise damage,” read part of the SACAA report which was released on Tuesday, 23 April 2025.
In a report which African times has seen, SACAA reveals that the pilot’s licence expired on 31 December 2024.
“The pilot had an invalid Private Pilot Licence (PPL) initially issued on 18 December 2021 with an expiry date of 31 December 2024. The Regulator does not have a record of the pilot’s licence renewal process in their system.
“Approximately eight minutes into the flight near Makhado Military Aerodrome (FALM), the engine ran rough and the engine’s revolutions per minute (RPM) dropped. The pilot initiated a left to line up with RWY 10 at FALM, he also switched on the carburettor heat to avoid carburettor icing. However, the engine stopped. The pilot attempted to restart it but was unsuccessful, “ added the findings of the report.
It further revealed that It was not the first time that the pilot was involved in an aircraft accident, as he has been involved in an accident before, on the 21 April 2024.
