BADPLAAS – Mr Michiel Jansen (53) is still in a critical condition in hospital after the light aircraft he had flown crashed at Vygeboom Dam on December 29.
His son, Mr Adriaan Jansen (28), who was with him in the plane, has been discharged from hospital.
The accident is shrouded in controversy since the aircraft was reported to the Recreational Aviation Association of South Africa (Raasa) two days before the accident, for having allegedly flown dangerously low over the very same dam.
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The aircraft crashed into a water canal at the dam at about 06:45 last Tuesday. Members of the police, Off Road Rescue Unit as well as several ambulance services were alerted to the scene soon after. According to Mr Clarence Hobbs of Barberton EMRS, eyewitnesses who had been fishing at Vygeboom, said it was making a turn over the dam. “They said the aircraft was vertical at one stage as it turned and it is suspected that the wind might have caused the pilot to lose control.”
It was clear on the scene that Michiel’s injuries were life-threatening and he was airlifted to Mediclinic Nelspruit. He has since been transferred to Milpark Hospital in Gauteng where he is currently being treated. Adriaan was taken to Rob Ferreira Hospital in Mbombela. According to a media statement by ER24, He sustained moderate injuries. He has since been discharged.
The same day of the accident, a reader notified Lowvelder about an email she had sent Raasa two days before the accident. She also has a pilot’s licence.
“Good day, I would like to report dangerous unnecessary low flying over Vygeboom Dam. I would like to stay anonymous. Low flying on video was the first of several. Last one being even lower than the one on the video. As you will see on video, this is where watersports is enjoyed by residents. I have a video to support this. Aircraft ZU-RON,” the email read.
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Nobody of Raasa responded in time. The reader has since reported the incident to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and officials said they would make contact with her. She would not release the video footage out of fear of victimisation and wanted the CAA to first conduct its investigation. “I feel very sorry for Mr Jansen,” she added.
Lowvelder contacted Adriaan last week. At first he didn’t want to speak to the media, accusing Lowvelder of having used photographs of the wrecked plane on its website without the Jansen family’s permission and “writing things they weren’t happy with”.
He continued, “If you write it (that the aircraft had been reported to Raasa), you will cause big trouble. My father isn’t conscious yet and we will respond at a later stage.” He added that the aircraft that had been involved in the accident was not the one reported to Raasa before. “We also saw the aircraft that had been flying dangerously low. They mistook it for ours. Our aircraft had been parked next to the dam the entire time and we took off for the first time on Tuesday.”
The newspaper pointed out that the registration number of the wrecked plane was the same as that reported to Raasa and asked Adriaan if someone else might have flown it prior to the accident. He then referred Lowvelder to family friend Mr Kobus de Wet.
De Wet said they hadn’t been able to confirm this with Michiel as he wasn’t able to talk yet. “He sustained very serious injuries. His heels have been crushed and he sustained very serious injuries to his chest and head.”
Michiel is the owner of Must Paper Industries. His wife, Ms Marietjie Jansen, posted on Facebook that her husband is a wonderful pilot. “He flew to save rhinos and flew children suffering from cancer to fulfil their last wishes.”
