One Dead As Vintage Plane Crashes Near Pretoria

The plane was reportedly on a test flight, and was due to be flown to an air museum in the Netherlands.
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News24

Investigators are still searching for clues as to what caused a plane crash on Tuesday that left one person dead and approximately 20 people injured. The chartered plane crashed in Wonderboom, next to Moloto Road in Pretoria East.

It has since emerged that the plane was built in 1954, and was going to be flown from South Africa to a Dutch air museum in the Netherlands. It crashed during a test flight.

The Civil Aviation Authority is reportedly investigating.

ER24 spokesperson Russel Meiring told News24 on Tuesday night:

"Their injuries range from minor to critical."

Meiring said there were two air ambulance helicopters on the scene. He said he was not able to comment on what caused the accident at this stage.

"Initial reports from the aircraft crash in Wonderboom [say it] has left allegedly 20 people injured, at least one critically," ER24 tweeted.

Best Care ambulance services' Xander Loubser said reports indicated that the charter plane was carrying passengers on an international flight.

He said the pilot was in a critical condition following the crash.

Emer-g-med's Jurgen Kotze, who said they were the first responders to the accident, said four people, including the pilot, had sustained critical injuries.

"The pilot is still entrapped in the cockpit of the airplane and sustained critical injuries. We are still treating him on scene," he said.

Kotze said the remaining passengers' injuries range from minor to moderate.

According to eNCA, it is believed that the two pilots are from the Netherlands and Australia. The plan was en route to an air museum in the Netherlands. The plane, a Convair-340, was reportedly built in 1954.

Smoke was seen coming out of the aircraft before it crashed.

The museum, called the Aviodrome near the Dutch city of Lelystad, reportedly said it was "hugely shocked" by the crash, reported AFP and IOL. The plane was reportedly renovated in South Africa before being flown to the museum. Tuesday's flight was reportedly a test flight.

The aircraft was due to fly to the Netherlands via east Africa, Egypt, Croatia and Austria, and was originally built in the US.