Doug wrote:
Interestingly, (and very sadly)...this appears to be the second SAAF chopper crash into Powerlines at Du Toit's Kloof. Found this on the internet.....
Quote: "Sgt Foote (A.R) (Bob) was a flight mechanic on the first Alouette that the Air Force lost.
It happened in the du Toit's kloof when the chopper flew into some high tension cables.
All aboard were killed. I saw the remains arrive at Ysterplaat on a Queen Mary. Very little left recognisable as a helicopter. "
Does anyone have anymore info on the historical crash there?
Here is some information I was able to find on that crash Doug.
Newspaper reports printed in Helicopters of the SAAF a Pictorial History 1948-2011 compiled by Winston Brent.
Report 1:
Two South African Air Force Officers were killed when their jet helicpter plunged into a deep ravine in the Dutoitskloof pass soon after 11am today.
Their names are being withheld until their next-of-kin have been notified.
The helicopter, a two-seater French Alouette clipped high tension wires near the national road before crashing. The wreck was lying in thick bush. Rescuers found bits of the machine scattered over a wide area. The crash which occurred on the Worcester side of the road tunnel was seen by Mr A. Dreyer a Cape Town businessman. First at the wreck were Mr J H Pickl, proprietor of the hotel in the pass, and Mr W Hector, a waiter there. Mr Pickl said "The helicopter passed the hotel going towards Worcester. I was on the road talking to a friend when we saw it flying past rather low. I watched it going towards Worcester when it suddenly disappeared. I did not hear any crash then"
Mr Pickl go into his car to investigate when Mr Dreyer drove up and said he had seen the machine going down very slowly and thought something must be wrong with it. "I went down the road immediately and saw the wreckage in the river which runs behind my hotel" Mr Pickl said. He and Mr Hector climbed down while Mr Dreyer telephoned the S.A.A.F at Youngsfield. The two dead officers were lying in the wreckage. High tension wires which cross the road had been cut. Part of the helicopter's rotor blade was lying near there Mr Pickl said. The drop to the river, the Molenaars River, is about 300 feet.
Report 2:
Lt Keith Lynford Martin (23) and Air Sgt. Andrew Robert Foote (40) were killed when their S.A.A.F Alouette helicopter crashed in Dutoitskloof yesterday.
Lieutenant Martin was unmarried and came from Malvern Johannesburg. Air Sergeant Foote was married and lived at Wingfield with his wife and three children.
Air Sergeant Foote's family has been offered a military funeral for him and he will probably be buried on Monday.
- The helicopter was an Alouette II. Construction number was 1454, tail number was 17 and it flew with 17 Squadron.
The accident on c/n 1454 happened on 17 August 1962.
Interestingly , c/n 1453, (serial 16; also delivered on 29 September 1960) was "w/o in the mountains near Worcester on 3 October 1966" with 2/Lt Botha on board.