Helicopter crashes on Table Mountain while battling veld fire
A helicopter assisting firefighters crashed on the side of Table Mountain on Wednesday according to the City of Cape Town.
Image: file
A helicopter assisting firefighers above Table Mountain by dumping water onto burning vegetation, ran into trouble when its rotor clipped the side of the mountain causing it to crash and explode.
Flames and a plume of smoke could be seen after the helicopter circulated above the veld fire. As it was trying to offload the water, its rotor clipped the rocks on the right side of the mountain. Moments later the helicopter went down and flames and smoke could be seen.
Mayco member for Safety and Security, JP Smith posted this earlier this evening:
"Sad news... While we were trying to assist SANParks with the fire burning above the Houtbay and Constantia Nek, one of the SANParks-contracted helicopters seems to have clipped the mountain with its main rotor and crashed on the mountain.
"The pilot seems to have survived. We have immediately activated an 'Incident Management Team 5' and have deployed rescue technicians up the mountain face.
Enforcement officers have been dispatched to secure the crash site until SAPS and the Civil Aviation Authority is able to take over the scene."
No further details are immediately available.