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Two Harvards crash at Waterkloof air show By LOUIS OELOFSE and KIM HELFRICHPretoria – TWO historic T6 Harvard aircraft crashed yesterday, marring the open days of the Aerospace Africa and Defence 2002 exhibition and air show at AFB Waterkloof. One pilot – Colonel Jeff Earle, of the SA Air Force Reserve – suffered minor injuries, but the civilian pilots of the other plane were unhurt. Col Earle’s aircraft was beyond repair, having burst into flames on impact, but the other is in reasonable condition. More seriously injured were two members of 44 Parachute Regiment, based at Tempe, outside Bloemfontein, who were taken to 1 Military Hospital on Saturday following a low-level paradrop that went wrong. Col Earle walked away from the crash of his SAAF Museum Harvard, which lost power and hit power lines and a tree before skidding to a halt on the ground. A mere few seconds before the Harvard crashed into the ground on a smallholding next to Rietvlei Nature Reserve, he jumped clear, escaping serious injury. He was treated on the scene before being flown to 1 Military Hospital where he was in a stable condition, without serious injuries. When the fire started, Col Earle managed to run down the hill to escape the flames. “He said he was ‘fine’, but he had a lot of blood on his face and was holding his arms around his body,” said the owner of the smallholding, Carel Potgieter, who witnessed the crash. In the second incident involving a Harvard, the aircraft had to perform an emergency landing south of the base on completion of its final slot in the flying programme about 5pm yesterday. Neither the pilot nor the co-pilot of the second Harvard – civilians named only as Lipschitz and Rosenthal – was seriously injured. On Saturday the huge crowd at AFB Waterkloof watched in horror as two parachutists were injured during a low-level paradrop display. One of the parabats injured, Private S D Magidela, was in the high care unit of 1 Military Hospital yesterday with back injuries while the second, Pte T H Mdleleni, was released after treatment. The incident happened late during Saturday’s flying programme when parachutists from 44 Parachute Brigade did a low- level jump from a C130 transport aircraft. Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota, who saw the incident, said he was confident the soldiers were well-trained and would survive. Exhibition organisers said both incidents would be investigated by the SAAF. This was confirmed by Trevor Davids, of the Civil Aviation Authority. The North American Harvard first entered flying service as a training aircraft in 1940. It continued in use in South Africa for about half a century.
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