Gooney Bird's end

AT 7.45am, Gooney Bird took off from the Waterkloof Air Force Base outside Pretoria.

On board were six highly experienced and capable crew members and five air force protection personnel - Sergeant L Sobantu, corporals N Khomo; A Matlaila, M Mthombeni and Lance-Corporal N Aphane.

With a cargo of medical equipment, the aircraft - which is stationed at 35 Squadron at Ysterplaat Air Force Base in Cape Town - taxied onto the main runway at Waterkloof.

Radio recordings indicate that pilot Captain Zack Smith and co-pilot Major Kurt Misrole were happy that everything on the 68-year-old aircraft was in order. It was fitted with weather radar and up-to-date avionics.

The pilots took off. Their destination: Mthatha Airport.

Their flying time: One hour and 45 minutes.

By 9.45am, the Dakota had crashed.

Radio transmissions captured by air traffic control and flight plans filed with air traffic control operators indicate that it was meant to be an unproblematic flight - in fact, just another routine weekly flight.

But with no black box or onboard flight recorders, the only clue to what caused the aircraft to crash may be in the final radio transmissions. They have already been downloaded and prepared for the board of inquiry established to investigate the crash.

Information indicates that some of the final transmissions were by Smith radioing about the worsening weather conditions.

With radio contact lost at 9.45am, many questions will forever be unanswered. These questions include:

• Why did Smith and Misrole fly towards the deadly Giant's Castle, which was enveloped by thick clouds barely 5m above ground level, instead of taking the normal flying route?
• Why, knowing the aircraft was unpressurised, did the pilots try to climb above the 11067ft mountain summit when the Dakota's oxygen ceiling was 12000ft? and
• Why - knowing the normal flight path, via Ladysmith and Estcourt - did they not turn around, head to Durban or try to reach Bloemfontein, which has an air force base?

Colonel Ian Brunette, the 35 Squadron commanding officer, said there were several questions that would never be answered.

"There is no black box or flight recorder so no one will ever know. There is no reason to question any of the crews' capabilities - [they] were all highly experienced - and there is definitely no reason to question the aircraft's reliability."

Brunette said that though the aircraft was 68 years old, it had undergone numerous upgrades, including improvements to its engines, avionics and airframe.

He said they were at a complete loss as to what had really happened.

"When we do this 'run' we normally fly to Ladysmith and then Escourt before heading to Mthatha. This is specifically to avoid the Drakensberg and its high ground.

"We simply do not know why they flew towards the mountains. It doesn't make sense, especially as both pilots were meticulous when it came to safety," said Brunette.

What is known is that the pilots realised - moments before impact - the danger they were in and tried to climb above the deadly Dragon Peaks.

Huge impact burns show the site where the aircraft exploded and disintegrated on impact, destroying virtually everything inside.

With dark clouds covering Giant's Castle mountain peak yesterday, an air force Oryx helicopter crew found the remains of their colleagues on a peak.

The signals of three cellphones of passengers which had not been turned off during the flight allowed rescuers to triangulate the crash site. It was found 630m from where they had originally estimated the plane to have crashed.

The crew and passengers' remains were recovered hours later by Durban, Pietermaritzburg and Port Shepstone search and rescue units.

Warrant Officer Jack Haskins of the Pietermaritzburg K9 Search and Rescue unit described the scene as "horrific".

SA Air Force spokesman Brigadier General Marthie Visser said a board of inquiry has been established to investigate the crash.

"This is the worst tragedy to strike the air force," he said. - Additional reporting Nivashni Nair