Update
MOSSEL BAY NEWS - The U Dream Global Cape to Cairo flight challenge was hit by a double tragedy at the weekend.
The Mossel Bay Advertiser reported on the challenge in May and June because a young pilot from Hartenbos, Chandré Swanepoel, did the Johannesburg to Cape Town part of the challenge, stopping over in Mossel Bay en route, before the official start of the challenge from Cape Town.
A statement on the U Dream Global facebook page, posted on Saturday, 3 August, at 22:44, reads: "U Dream Global: Cape to Cairo Challenge is devastated to report that there has been an accident of the flight support aircraft and that the Project Directors, Des Werner and Werner Froneman, have lost their lives. No one else was involved in the accident. We kindly request everybody's understanding at this incredibly difficult time. Our love and thoughts go to Des and Werner's friends and families."
The Cape to Cairo challenge was the brainchild of Megan Werner, Des' daughter, who is a motivational speaker.
Chandré told the Mossel Bay Home Ads News: "Des' wife, Belinda, contacted me via her personal assistant to let me know the news. This is terrible, heartbreaking. Des helped me a lot in aviation. I worked with him on the U Dream project with regards to the planning. Des put his heart and soul into the project. I also worked with Werner Froneman and was the last person to see him when he left South African soil when their flight left South Africa en route to Cairo."
Belinda Werner and others were awaiting Des Werner and Werner Froneman in Malawi, but they did not arrive.
Belinda was contacted and told there had been a crash.
The light aircraft crashed at about 19:30 on Saturday in the village of Igugwa in central Tanzania.
According to Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority director general Hamza Johari, the pilot had requested permission to land in Tanzania after reporting engine problems. Soon after taking off again from Tabora in central Tanzania, the pilot reported similar engine problems to air traffic controllers at Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam. The plane crashed and then was engulfed in flames.
There has been an outpouring of sympathy on the U Dream facebook page in response to the sad news.
Among others, Des was described as a "consummate gentleman" and top pilot. One person said there must have been something really wrong with the plane for Des not to have been in control in the air, because he was such a good pilot. Another post said the Cape to Cairo challenge must be completed because Des would have wanted that.
Read a previous article here: Cape to Cairo flight challenge double tragedy
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