The pilot flying Zimbabwean businessman Wicknell Chivayo told another crew he was stuck in cloud shortly before the helicopter crashed near Marondera. All five people on board were killed.
The account of the last radio calls came from Froster Chisi, a senior security aide to Chivayo. Chisi was travelling in a second helicopter flying close by.
“I’m in bad weather; I haven’t exited the cloud,” pilot Captain Kelvin Tafirei Soda reportedly said over the radio.
According to The NewsHawks, Soda and fellow pilot Captain Courage Mutavirwa flew into rain and mist on Wednesday. They were heading back to Harare from Chivayo’s rural home in Gandami, Chikomba.
The Bell 430 helicopter was carrying Chivayo, his wife Lucy Muteke and her personal aide Senelisiwe Magagula.
Chisi said the weather got worse as the two helicopters came close to Marondera. The plan was to stop there before going on to Harare.
The pilot of the second helicopter reportedly suggested changing the route through Bromley because of the weather. Soda kept talking to the other aircraft while he struggled to see.
His last reported position was over the Surrey area. The second pilot then said they were about 10 minutes from where they were going.
“Which destination?” Soda reportedly asked. Nothing more was heard from Chivayo’s helicopter after that.
Chisi’s helicopter landed in Marondera. The people on board at first expected the Bell 430 to arrive later, and they waited for it.
They then flew on to Harare to collect vehicles. For more than an hour, they tried to reach Chivayo, Muteke and the pilots. Only later did they learn that the helicopter had crashed.
The aircraft came down at about 5pm at Kudenga Farm, near Waddilove Mission in Marondera Rural.
Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe director-general George Mashababe said early findings showed fuel spilled when the helicopter hit the ground. He said this caused a fire that also burnt the grass around the wreck.
A flight recorder was found in the wreckage. It is expected to help investigators piece together the last moments of the flight.
Investigators are expected to study the recorder, the radio calls, the weather and the wreckage to find out what happened.
Authorities have not found that bad weather or the pilot losing his sense of direction caused the crash. The radio calls describe the conditions the pilots faced, but they do not show why the helicopter went down.
Source: this article is based on reporting by The South African. Image: The South African. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Entertainment desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Rirhandzu Baloyi writes about entertainment for Tzaneen Voice. Rirhandzu covers South African music, film, TV, streaming, awards and celebrity news, from amapiano and local soapies to Showmax and Netflix releases. Stories stick to what happened, who was involved and when fans can watch or listen.