Three Soldiers Die In Aircraft Crash
Pini Bothoko | Monday February 13, 2017 16:26
The director of protocol and public affairs, Colonel Tebo Dikole confirmed the accident in an interview with The Monitor.
Dikole said the aircraft, which left Thebephatshwa Air Base for Gaborone crashed in the general area shortly after taking off and three fatalities have been confirmed.
He said it is too early to know the cause of the accident but an investigation has been launched into the cause of the crash.
“All of the three soldiers who were travelling in the aircraft being two pilots and a technician, all lost their lives when the accident occurred,” said Dikole.
He said the names of the deceased will be withheld until their next of kin have been informed.
“We wish to request members of the public to accord the respective families and friends the privacy they deserve to mourn their loved ones,” said Dikole.
Asked what occasionally cause aircraft accidents, Dikole stated that in aviation industry it happens for aircraft to be involved in accidents that at times can be fatal.
“When it comes to what caused the accident, further investigations should be carried out by trained personnel to determine what exactly could have caused the accident.”
He added: “At the end of those investigations we will be able to explain what exactly caused the accident”.
Back in October 2011, two Pilatus PC-7 trainers flown by the BDF’s airwing collided in mid-air and all of the four pilots ejected, but one later died of wounds sustained during the crash.
At the time it was reported that the two aircraft were manoeuvring in close proximity whilst on a standard training mission.
Whilst performing a manoeuvre their tails collided, causing the aircrafts to catch fire and began descending.
All four pilots bailed out, with one PC-7 crashing over Letlhakeng Primary School and another coming down on a house, narrowly avoiding killing a woman and a child.
The aircraft damaged the victim’s house and a vehicle that was parked on the side of the road. It was further reported that one of the pilots was burnt by the wreckage and later died of his wounds at a Gaborone hospital. Apparently his parachute got caught in the aircraft as he was trying to exit the aircraft.
In April 2014, the Botswana Police Service (BPS) helicopter AS350 Euro-copter (BPS-02) also went missing near Maun and two days later three police officers were found dead following the crash.
Two years later the families of the deceased opened a case to sue the police for P15 million for the loss of their loved ones with the case still ongoing at the Gaborone High Court. Shockingly that time the police revealed that they had not ordered the officers to fly on that day and that they did so on their own.
The deceased were superintendent Keokeditswe Sobatha, assistant superintendent Shepherd Ntobedzi and inspector Ricardo Mabotho.