A helicopter crash in the Bulwer area yesterday claimed the life of Blake Simpson.

It is believed that he, together with an unnamed passenger from Stellenbosch, were flying in the Underberg area carrying out an alien plant species survey. Just after 11am, a farm worker heard the chopper some distance away… Seconds later, there was a loud bang as it smashed into the ground.

Both pilot and passenger were killed in the crash.

“I’ve always been fascinated with flying, but there is something about helicopters that was just extra special. As a child, I knew what I wanted to be,” Blake Simpson told the NKZN Get It Magazine in an exclusive interview in April 2014. See full interview.

Blake had recently changed employment and had started flying for a PE-based company.