A plane operated by the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) disappeared on Thursday 23 January. According to TimesLIVE, three people are presumed dead.
The CAA is unable to confirm if the plane has crashed or not due to unfavourably misty weather conditions that have made the search and rescue mission very difficult.
According to the report the Cessna Citation flight inspection aircraft, which was used for calibration of airport systems, is feared to have crashed in the Western Cape mountainous region of the Ruiterbos area between Mossel Bay and George.
Accoridng to News24, the SACAA lost contact with its flight inspection unit aircraft shortly after it took off from George Airport.
‘The crew, two males and one female, took off at 10.40 (local time) from the George Airport on a flight calibration mission of navigational aids of the same airport. The air traffic control tower could not make contact with the aircraft 10 minutes after take-off. The Air Traffic and Navigation Services immediately activated search and rescue. The regulator is in contact with the search and rescue team for further updates. The SACAA will issue a further update later today,’ the CAA said in a statement.
UPDATE:
Wreckage of the crash has been found. According to TimesLIVE, an image of the tail of the Cessna Citation has emerged with the registration mark ZS-CAR.
Image: Unsplash
