SAHRA Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage
December 7:
“This day in our shipwreck and aeronautical wreck history”
1874: The south-westerly gale that battered the Eastern Cape coastline for two days, continued into this day, claiming its final three victims in the Eastern Cape:
• Emile Marie, this wooden sailing barque wrecked near Bonza Bay in East London.
• James Gibson, this wooden sailing barque wrecked at Cape Henderson, near Haga-Haga. The rescuers of the Nova Bella, which wrecked the previous day, thought that the James Gibson might be refloated having been run aground in a calmer spot, but this was not the case.
• Verulam, this wooden sailing barque wrecked on the west bank of the Buffalo River in East London.
2009: An SA Airlink Embraer 135LR (registration no. ZS-SJW) crashed outside of the George Airport in in the Western Cape after aquaplaning after touching down. The runway it landed on had recently been refurbished and it was the first time that the area experiences proper rain, with the assumption of the report being that the fog spray sealant that was applied degraded the surface friction coefficient during wet conditions. Of the 35 that were on board, no lives were lost but 10 people sustained injuries.
 |
| ZS-SJW after having aquaplaned and broken through the fence at the George Airport and coming to rest on a public road |
2015: A Dixco Transport Eclipse 500 (registration no. ZS-DKS) was on its way from Kuruman to its home base in Cape Town, with just the pilot (who was also the owner) of the aircraft on board, when it crashed 33 km south west of Swellendam in the Western Cape. The pilot detoured to Lanseria for a refuel and when near Kimberley, was observed making erratic flight procedures, such as four 360 degree right hand turns at speeds of up to 400 knots.
 |
| An EMR private ambulance helicopter tending to some of the widespread wreckage of ZS-DKS in a field between Swellendam and Bredasdorp |
A SAAF SAAB Gripen supersonic military jet from the Overberg base intercepted the aircraft but could not ascertain whether the pilot was conscious or not before the aircraft spiraled towards the ground and impacted the terrain killing the pilot between Bredasdorp and Swellendam in the Western Cape.
