Plane crash attributed to bad weather

Three people died when a private aircraft crashed at Lanseria Airport, an airport official said. Photo: @ShiftyWyss

Three people died when a private aircraft crashed at Lanseria Airport, an airport official said. Photo: @ShiftyWyss

Published Feb 3, 2014

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Johannesburg - Bad weather is believed to have played a factor in the light aircraft crash at Lanseria Airport on Monday morning.

“Speculation is that it was due to the weather,” airport spokeswoman Claudette Vianello said on Monday.

Three people died when a Beechcraft King Air BE90 crashed at the airport on landing. It was speculated that the crash on the embankment opposite the runway could have been due to the pilot trying to avoid hitting a building.

“It is speculated that it was a controlled flight into terrain to avoid a worse collision with a building,” she said.

The aircraft came from Rand Airport and was scheduled to land at Lanseria.

She said the pilot was in contact with the control tower before the crash. The plane burst into flames upon impact but emergency services at the airport contained the blaze.

The SA Civil Aviation Authority and emergency services were at the crash site. The authority would investigate the crash, Vianello said.

Various consulates had been calling the airport trying to determine if any of their people might have been on board. The names of the deceased have not yet been released. - Sapa

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