Civil Aviation Authority releases preliminary report on Ballito microlight crash

A preliminary accident report into the microlight aircraft crash that claimed the life of the pilot and passenger shortly after take off in Ballito last month was released by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Monday.

Conflicting details have emerged from the March 17 accident that claimed the lives of former Air Mauritius captain and SAAF veteran Alan Slade and his passenger, Leon Meiring, a father of 4.

According to the report, the pilot and passenger took off from the Ballito Airfield to “perform an introductory flight operation on the same airfield” as, according to the Ballito Microlight School, Meiring wanted to undertake microlight training. Meiring (46) was not registered as a student and no file had been opened for him.

However, his cousin, Yolande Taljaard told the Courier they had been on holiday from Mpumalanga and that a microlight sightseeing flight had been on Meiring’s bucket list.

Meiring had no interest in learning to be a microlight pilot.

In the report the operator (Ballito Microlight School) stated that an introductory flight was conducted for potential customers who had an interest in learning to be a microlight pilot.

The flight was scheduled to take about 30 minutes. However, when Slade and Meiring did not return after 40 minutes a search started.

The microlight was later found to have crashed into a sugarcane field 165 metres north of the airfield.

“The operator called for emergency medical assistance and the South African Police Services (Saps) to the scene.

Medical officials reported that they found the pilot and the passenger seated in their respective seats with their seat belts on.

The passenger was not in possession of a student pilot licence and a medical certificate as required by the regulator (SACAA).

However, in this instance the passenger was not required to have one as he was not a registered student yet, although payment for the flight was made to cover flight expenses,” said the report.

The report states that despite the pilot and passenger wearing lap belt seat harnesses, “the injuries sustained were not survivable due to the manner in which the microlight impacted the ground”.

A weather report from the South African Weather Services indicated the weather at the time of the accident was not a factor.

“The fuel tank, which is housed underneath the seat, was not ruptured and found to be intact and had about 35 litres of fuel inside.

The on-site inspection of the airframe, engine and propeller indicated that there were no pre-impact failures of these systems and all damage was attributed to be a result of the impact forces.

The microlight was issued an Authority to Fly (ATF) certificate on January 6, 2020 with an expiry date of January 31, 2022,” said the report.

The microlight was not fitted with a cockpit voice recorder or a flight data recorder as neither is required by regulation to be fitted to this type of microlight.

Slade was a senior airline pilot with a valid commercial pilot’s licence and a total of 21 826 hours of flying. His aviation medical certification was up to date.

All rules and regulations concerning the operation of a microlight aircraft are controlled by Directorate of Civil Aviation (DCA) which is part of the Department of Transport.

According to the regulations a microlight pilot, other than an instructor in the course of training a student, may not take passengers for any form of remuneration.

The CAA said the accident and incident investigation was ongoing.

Ballito Microlight School had not responded at the time of going to print.