I was the last person who spoke to Captain Charlie, the last member of the public, minutes before he died on that fateful day in 1993.
On Saturday 2 October 1993 I took my two sons Guillaumé and Hartman, then 13 and 12 years old, to the air show at Lanseria. I grew up in Dunnottar where the flying school was, captain Pine Pienaar and Mannetjies Roux and all. I loved air shows.
Sometime during the show, my sons said: “Ons wil na die jets gaan kyk.” (“We want to go look at the jets”) We strolled over, low and behold; there was a Vampire jet that I had not seen for many years. One of the Impala jets had its step ladder up. Always eager to explore, my two sons were into the cockpit like a flash. It wasn’t long before the pilot arrived.
He said: “Askies, ek wil inklim.” (“Sorry, I want to get in.”)
I asked: “Gaan jy nou vlieg?” (”Are you gonna fly now?”)
He replied: “Ja, ons is volgende.” (“Yes, we are next.”)
That was it. That was my conversation with Captain Charlie, minutes before he crashed. I was the last civilian who spoke to him.
While my sons were getting out of the Impala, I could not take my eyes off the young pilot. He looked like an Olympic athlete. I got the impression that one could ask him to quickly run and go fetch a leave from a tree on top of the hill, and he’d come back smiling. The name tag on his chest read “Captain Charlie … something”. Later I learnt that his surname was Rudnick and that he was 34 years old. He had this crazy sort of overall on, which I was told was a pressure suit.
My two sons went and stood behind the Impala when it started up, a safe distance away; it blew them off their feet … the “giant hair dryer”.
We watched the air show by the Silver Falcons Aerobatic Team in awe. They were so fast, now here and then gone, like lightning. It was unbelievable, great, super, fantastic. Apparently Captain Charlie was the leader; he broke away and made a loop, while the other Impalas flew through the loop. And then, coming down to complete his loop, the one wing broke off. Just like that. He still had the presence of mind, and extremely fast reactions, to bail out, but he hit the ground before his parachute could open. His plane crashed close to a house.
The show went on as if nothing happened. The next item was refuelling a fighter plane in the air. The Boeing was already on its way from Zwartkop.
Inadvertently I thought, what if my two sons had pushed the wrong button while they were in the cockpit? Obviously there’s no “eject wing” button. It must have been something like metal fatigue that caused the wing to break off.
Rest in peace Captain Charlie, having met you, we shall never forget you.
Here is the facebook link to a video of the crash.
https://www.facebook.com/dirk.steyn.718 ... 553241378/The link might not work here. My email address is
wegdraai@vodamail.co.za I can email you the video.