A major disaster appears to have been averted after a Jetstream 41 ditched in school fields, breaking into three pieces, in South Africa

At 08:00hrs local time, a Jetstream 41 operated by SA Airlink, declared an emergency shortly after take-off from Durban International Airport en-route to Pietermaritzburg in South Africa. Other pilots and air traffic controllers reported seeing smoke coming from one of the plane’s engines, before the crew of the 29-seat aircraft declared an emergency, reporting engine loss and smoke from the rear of the aircraft before it ditched in school fields approximately 400 metres off the airport and broke into three pieces.

A spokesperson for SA Airlink said: “It appears that the crew was executing a forced emergency landing. They had selected a small open field in the build up area which was clearly not adequate for this purpose. The aircraft impacted a concrete palisade fence and columns, and came to rest on the sports field of Merebank high school.” Luckily, the incident took place on a public holiday and there were no pupils in the school at the time. The spokesperson continued: “It is remarkable that the skill and expertise of the pilots was such that in this emergency, they were able to pilot their aircraft to avoid contact with members of the public and buildings and that a major catastrophe was averted.” The plane was carrying no passengers and there were three crew on board. Rescue and firefighting teams were on the scene within minutes, according to the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA), but it took two and a half hours to extricate the last crew member from the cockpit without causing further injures. All three crew were injured and taken to hospital in Durban.

Flight attendant Rodelle Oosthuizen sustained facial injuries and a fractured spine; Captain Alistair Freeman was left with multiple injuries, including facial fractures, broken ribs and ankle and a suspected punctured lung, and was in critical condition on a ventilator; First officer Sonja Bierman broke both ankles and hand, and sustained fractures in the pelvic area and chest. A bystander on the ground was also hurt – Mr Abraham Mthethwa sustained leg fractures and was left in a critical but stable condition. Senior representatives from SACAA and the Department of Transport, who happened to be in Durban, were on the scene within 30 minutes and an investigation team was also dispatched from Johannesburg.

The South African Police Services responsible for securing the wreckage quickly cordoned off the area to ensure that evidence critical to the accident investigation would not be tampered with. According to the operators, the Jetstream 41 is a reliable aircraft with an “impeccable” safety record built by British Aerospace in Scotland. There are over 100 examples of the type built, of which 72 remain in active service in 21 airlinesaround the world. Airlink operates 15 of these aircraft. “The crashed aircraft had all maintenance items current, with no known defects,” said the company spokesperson. “While having been in service with Airlink since 1995, the aircraft was nearing its midlife stage with more than 30,000 hours of service remaining,” she continued.  The company was working closely with the South African Civil Aviation authority in its investigation of the incident. The digital flight recorder and cockpit voice recorder had been retrieved and were being analysed. The original equipment  manufacturer, BAE Systems plc, had dispatched a team of technical experts to assist with the investigation. A preliminary report is to be released soon.

With thanks to Lyndon Dennis for his invaluable assistance with this article and for the illustrations

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