SA pilot killed in Eswatini helicopter crash identified

The pilot killed in a helicopter crash in Eswatini en route to Johannesburg on Tuesday morning has been identified as Gary Fox. 

Fox, 54 had been the sole person onboard the Namibian B206 helicopter which was en route to Lanseria Airport in Johannesburg before crashing shortly after 8am in the Mhlambanyatsi area, 18km south of the country’s capital Mbabane. 

Speaking to TimesLIVE, Nicole Roos, director at Heliworx Aviation, a company in which Fox was a partner, confirmed the news.

“I can confirm Gary Mark Fox died yesterday morning in a helicopter crash in Swaziland. It was a Namibian aircraft. The family has been informed.”

Roos said Fox was a “legend” in the industry and his untimely passing was a great loss to the aviation community. 

“He was an instructor at the Swakopmund Flying School, a designated examiner at the Namibian Civil Aviation Authority an aircraft maintenance engineer in Namibia and in SA. It is a great loss for Namibian aviation. We have lost a very good friend and mentor.”

Roos said Fox’s wife, son and two daughters were busy with his remains in SA. 

Fox is believed to have taken off from Matsapha Airport in Eswatini at 7.30am. 

TimesLIVE