Australian pilots seriously injured in South African plane crash
Two people have died and three Australians, including the two experienced pilots, have been injured in a plane crash in South Africa.
Ross Kelly and Douglas Haywood, both long-serving Qantas pilots, were flying the vintage Convair CV-340 from Wonderboom Airport, north of Pretoria, to Pilanesberg in a test flight, when they ran into trouble shortly after take-off.
Video from the airport shows the 64-year-old plane, with 19 people on board, barely lift off the runway, with smoke pouring from one of its engines.
The aircraft crashed shortly after - about 4.30pm on Tuesday local time (12.30am on Wednesday AEST) - smashing through a building before ending up in a field.
The plane broke into pieces on impact, with the fuselage splitting in two and the tail detaching completely from the aircraft.
A South African technician on board was killed in the impact, and three people were injured on the ground, one later succumbing to their injuries.
The Australian pilots, both from Sydney, were seriously injured and taken to hospital.
In a statement, a Qantas spokesperson said the company had reached out to the men and was providing "whatever support we can".
“We were deeply upset to learn that two Qantas pilots, one current and one retired, were on board the vintage aircraft involved in an accident in South Africa on Tuesday," the spokesperson said.
"They are currently in hospital being treated for serious injuries.
"This news has shocked the Qantas pilot community and everyone’s thoughts are with the families."
The pilots, one of whom is now retired, have both flown for Qantas for more than 30 years, including as A380 Captains.
Between them, Kelly and Haywood have 37,000 hours of flying experience.
Kelly's wife Lyndal was also on the plane, News Corp reports.
Kelly and Haywood were flying the plane for Rovos Rail Tours. The aircraft was on its first leg of the journey to Aviodrome aircraft museum, at Lelystad Airport in the Netherlands.
Three Dutch museum staff who were on the flight were also injured in the crash, but were later released from hospital after being treated for minor injuries, Aviodrome said.
In a translation of a Facebook post, Aviodrome said the museum was saddened by the “terrible news”.
“Our thoughts and our condolences go to their families [of the people killed and injured],” Aviodrome said.
“At the moment there are still several occupants of the aircraft in the hospital, two of which are in critical condition.”
The South African Civil Aviation Authority is investigating the cause of the crash, with a team of investigators examining the incident.
'The SACAA wishes to point out that investigations can vary in complexity and may at times take a significant time to complete," the SACAA said in a statement.
"However, a preliminary report will be issued within 30 days of the accident."
The aircraft had been donated to the Aviodrome museum by Rovos Rail. After a 350,000-euro ($554,500) revamp, the plane’s journey to the Netherlands was due to start on July 12.
Designed for medium distances, the Convair’s route included stops in Zambia, Uganda, Sudan, Egypt, Croatia, Austria and then Lelystad. The plane was due to arrive in the Netherlands on July 23.