The Ministry of Works and Transport is investigating an accident involving a small aircraft in the Okavango areas.
According to the Ministry’s Public Relations Officer, Sam Mbaiwa, a Cessna 206 aircraft registered A2-AEP, operated by the Flying Mission, was on Thursday involved in a bird strike incident.
Mbaiwa said the aircraft collided with a vulture while en route from Nabeha Camp to Jack’s Camp in the Delta.
He said there were 4 passengers and a pilot on board the aircraft.
“Only minor injuries were sustained by the crew and two passengers,” he said.
According to information from the Ministry, the accident took place near Stanley’s Airstrip but “the crew could not make it to the runway.”
In the meantime, the Department of Civil Aviation is carrying out an investigation on circumstances surrounding the occurrence.
Mbaiwa said the flight operators, Flying Mission, had already installed the latest Satellite-based emergency locator beacon (ELT) 406 MHz and got a call (at 1500 hrs) from the Ground Station in Cape Town alerting them of the incident and giving the coordinates of the exact position of the occurrence.
“This expedited the search and rescue operations and occupants were picked within 11/2 hours,” he said.