African Pilot magazine editor Athol Franz's fiancé is one of the passengers on board one of two light aircraft that went missing in George's Valley, Limpopo, he said in a newsletter on Monday.
“After another stunning weekend rubbing shoulders with the Tzaneen pilots we woke up on Sunday morning to full overcast weather and I became concerned about getting home,” he wrote in the newsletter on the African Pilot website.
“Whilst the Yaks waited, the two Albatrosses took off and flew home in formation.
“About one hour later... I became concerned, because I tried to call Linda (my fiancé) who was a passenger on one of the two Albatrosses.”
The Albatross planes, carrying six people each, were presumed to be in the George's Valley area, between Polokwane and Tzaneen.
They took off from a landing strip in Tarentaal, a small farming community in Tzaneen, on Sunday and were headed to Rand Airport in Germiston.
“I am devastated that there is a possibility that the two Albatrosses either collided in the turbulent air... or that they flew into the mountains...” Franz wrote.
“I don't know what more to say but live in hope that the rescue teams will find survivors tomorrow.”
He said his life and the lives of many other was “shattered” by the news.
Another passenger was a Durban airshow co-ordinator, organisers said on Monday.
“We will not be releasing a name out of respect to the families,” Durban Airshow spokesman Ray de Vries said in a statement.
“This has really hit the aviation family hard and we pray that they are safe somewhere.”
A number of people on board were involved in the recent airshow held at Virginia.
Search and Rescue SA said the conditions were very challenging.
“The clouds are still low we can't get there. We are searching low level now,” said spokesman Johnny Smith.
A search and rescue team was hiking to an area where a Maake community leader said he saw the two light aircraft go down, Limpopo police said on Monday afternoon.
“As soon as we got the information from the man we asked the defence force to use their helicopter to go to the village,” Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said.
“The helicopter couldn't get through because of the weather and so we have dispatched a team of rescue personnel and police who are on the ground now.”
The route was about two hours long and was not accessible by air, he said.
Overnight foot patrols had searched in Tzaneen for the two planes. The air search was suspended on Monday morning because of bad weather but ground searching had continued, Smith said.
An SA National Defence Force helicopter, with a rescue team of 10, was also searching the area.
It was the only aircraft that was equipped to fly through the poor weather.
The search on Monday afternoon had moved south of Wolkberg, which is part of the Drakensberg mountain range, about 80
kilometres from Tzaneen. - Sapa