Gyrocopter pilot ‘did not drink day of accident’
Ronelle RademeyerWINDHOEK
The pilot of a gyrocopter that crashed and burst into flames on the Hosea Kutako International Airport road about 15 km east of Windhoek on 17 December 2020 had been drinking the night before, not the day of the accident, a report states.
The accident happened when the pilot crashed into power lines.
According to a final report by the directorate for aircraft accident investigations in the works and transport ministry, Pierre Blaauw (40) and his passenger, Donbaldt Noah, tested positive for alcohol. Blaauw’s blood alcohol level was 0.011 mg / dL.
“A witness testified that the pilot drank a bottle of whiskey with the other occupants the night before,” the report reads.
It appears that although they had whisky and beer with them when they visited a private airplane at Eros Airport shortly before the flight, Blaauw did not drink on the day. He was therefore not intoxicated at the time of the accident, as previously reported.
Parallel investigation
Meanwhile, tests to determine whether there were other psychoactive drugs in Blaauw’s system have not yet been finalised.
The Namibian Police Institute for Forensic Science (NPSFI) is conducting the tests as part of a parallel investigation into the plane crash together with that of the directorate for plane crash investigations.
Noah died in the accident, while Blaauw died later in a Windhoek hospital from multiple injuries he sustained.
It was also found that he did not have a valid licence at the time of the flight.
The pilot of a gyrocopter that crashed and burst into flames on the Hosea Kutako International Airport road about 15 km east of Windhoek on 17 December 2020 had been drinking the night before, not the day of the accident, a report states.
The accident happened when the pilot crashed into power lines.
According to a final report by the directorate for aircraft accident investigations in the works and transport ministry, Pierre Blaauw (40) and his passenger, Donbaldt Noah, tested positive for alcohol. Blaauw’s blood alcohol level was 0.011 mg / dL.
“A witness testified that the pilot drank a bottle of whiskey with the other occupants the night before,” the report reads.
It appears that although they had whisky and beer with them when they visited a private airplane at Eros Airport shortly before the flight, Blaauw did not drink on the day. He was therefore not intoxicated at the time of the accident, as previously reported.
Parallel investigation
Meanwhile, tests to determine whether there were other psychoactive drugs in Blaauw’s system have not yet been finalised.
The Namibian Police Institute for Forensic Science (NPSFI) is conducting the tests as part of a parallel investigation into the plane crash together with that of the directorate for plane crash investigations.
Noah died in the accident, while Blaauw died later in a Windhoek hospital from multiple injuries he sustained.
It was also found that he did not have a valid licence at the time of the flight.
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