george plane crash

Photo: Generic photo of plane steps

George plane crash: What we know so far as three feared dead

Emergency services are desperately trying to respond to the George plane crash after a Civil Aviation Authority flight went off the radar.

george plane crash

Photo: Generic photo of plane steps

The South Africa Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) have issued a statement on Thursday afternoon, confirming that one of their planes has gone off the radar near George in the Western Cape. The group lost contact with the aircraft shortly after take-off.

George plane crash – everything we know so far:

There are now genuine fears that the plane – being used as a flight inspection unit to test out flight calibration and navigational tools – has crash-landed, likely killing the people on board. We’ve been able to gather a few vital pieces of information, as we await further details from the aviation authorities:

  • The flight left from George Airport at 10:40, staffed by two males and one female;
  • Ten minutes after take-off, the local air traffic control centre could not find the flight. All contact was lost;
  • At 10:50, a search and rescue team was deployed to find the missing plane;
  • The 33-year-old plane was used to transport CAA inspectors to airports locally and in neighbouring countries; and
  • One of its key tasks is to conduct annual calibration of instrument-landing systems at SA airports.

Latest news and updates from the Goerge plane crash

However, there may be a more sinister element to this heartbreaking story. We have also learnt that this exact plane was stopped from flying last November, as smoke was reported in the cockpit shortly after take-off. Just two months later, the misfiring aircraft seems to have finished its life-span in tragic fashion.

It has been almost four hours since the alarm was first raised, but rescue teams are still trying to establish the full details of what’s happened here. Authorities are fearing the worse for the crew, who were essentially taking part in a fairly routine task.

We understand that the outlook is not good for those on-board. Mountain Search and Rescue Southern Cape have confirmed that the crash site has been located, telling us “it does not look good”.

This is a developing story and we will have more updates as we get them.

You can read the SACAA statement here: