The search began on Wednesday,
when one of three light aircraft, flying from Port Alfred to Port
Elizabeth failed to land as expected, Captain Mali Govender said.
“About 20km from Alexandria, the planes picked up cloud and mist, and each of the pilots took a different route to avoid this.”
After the aircraft was reported overdue, the police began air and ground searches, and alerted farmers in the area.
The search was suspended late Wednesday evening, and continued at first light on Thursday.
Two police helicopters, a police
fixed-wing aircraft, and another from the Algoa Flying Club, were
searching for the missing aircraft.
Police were working closely with the Civil Aviation Authority and had support from the military in the search.
Captain John Fobian of the
police's disaster management in the province described the area being
covered in the search as “very vast”.
“Currently, we have ground support
in Uitenhage, Kirkwood, Colchester and Port Elizabeth... Every effort
is being made to locate the missing aircraft.”
Comment: The light aircraft was en-route to Mossel Bay to be part of the Diaz Festival this weekend. More info to be published on this blog.
