Pilot remembered after fatal Polokwane helicopter crash
Tributes pour in for pilot Sebastian Nielson (34), who died in a helicopter crash near Polokwane, as authorities investigate the cause of the accident.
POLOKWANE – Messages of condolences are still flooding in on social media after a young commercial pilot lost his life in a helicopter crash in the Polokwane Game Reserve last Wednesday around 09:00.
Sebastian Nielson (34) was the only person on board of the 2004 Bell 206L-4 Long Ranger helicopter with registration number ZS-RAC when it crashed, a source on the scene confirmed just after Nielson’s body was extracted from the helicopter.
Nielson was an experienced pilot with about 2 000 flight hours to his credit.
Read more: Pilot killed in helicopter crash at Polokwane Game Reserve
Nielson’s father, Johan van der Merwe said to Netwerk24 that he spoke to his son early in the morning and that he said that he was on his way to Harare in Zimbabwe for business.
He planned to refuel at the Polokwane civil airport en route. Around 09:00 Van der Merwe received a crash notation from the aircraft but only opened it at 10:00.
He then contacted his son’s employers and a search was conducted while he rushed to Polokwane.
The crashed aircraft was found about 4kms from the civil airport.
Members of the South African Police were on the scene to gather evidence and the South African Civil Aviation Agency has been informed.
Nielson lived in Krugersdorp and is survived by his father and mother Monica Nielson who lives in Calgary, Canada, his fiancé Carlien Knoetze and his sister, Samantha Scheepers.
