Modipe Nkwe, the Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana (CAAB) spokesman said that the aircraft controller was communicating with the pilot when suddenly he lost contact before the crash about seven kilometres from the Francistown Airport. He said that CAAB was aware of the aircraft and knew that it was supposed to land at Francistown Airport at 7:25am from Lanseria Airport in South Africa but they do not know what caused the accident."After we lost communication with the pilot and could no longer see the plane, we alerted the search and rescue team to look for it only to discover that it had crashed in the bushes," he said.
He said he was not in a position to comment on the condition of the aircraft because it was a foreign one. "We are not in a position to tell the condition of the plane at the time it was flying. About planes from outside of Botswana, what we only know is that they will be using our airspace. We cannot, therefore, speculate on the safety of that plane," he explained.
Meanwhile, Botswana chief aircraft accident investigator, Captain Selwyn Lloyd, has said that they are still probing the plane crash and will release their findings once they are done. He said that they have not established the weight of the cargo in the plane. In May, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) said they had checked to find out if Botswana is effectively implementating ICAO standards and recommended practices. The probe is said to have covered all eight audit areas of legislation, organisation, personnel licencing, flight operations, air worthiness, accident and incident investigations, air navigation services and aerodromes and ground aids. Botswana rated 59.6 percent in effective implementation. The rating was said to be better than the average for Africa which was 41 percent and is almost equal to the global average of 60 percent.
