Chivayo pilot battled dense cloud before helicopter crash

Captain Kelvin Tafirei Soda reportedly told a fellow pilot that he was battling poor weather and struggling to emerge from dense cloud shortly before the helicopter carrying businessman Wicknell Chivayo crashed near Marondera, killing all five people on board.

Details of the Bell 430's final radio communications have emerged through Chivayo's senior security aide, Froster Chisi, who was travelling in a second helicopter flying nearby.

According to The NewsHawks, Soda and fellow pilot Captain Courage Mutavirwa encountered rainy and misty conditions while returning to Harare from Chivayo's rural homestead in Gandami, Chikomba, on Wednesday.

The helicopter was carrying Chivayo, his wife Lucy Muteke and her personal aide, Senelisiwe Magagula.

Chisi said weather conditions deteriorated as the two helicopters travelled towards Marondera, where they were expected to stop before continuing to Harare.

The pilot of the second helicopter reportedly suggested changing course and flying through Bromley because of the worsening conditions.

Soda continued communicating with the other aircraft as he struggled with visibility.

"I'm in bad weather; I haven't exited the cloud," Soda reportedly said over the radio.

His last reported position was in the Surrey area.

When the pilot of the trailing helicopter indicated that they were about 10 minutes from their destination, Soda appeared uncertain about which location was being discussed.

"Which destination?" he asked.

"Marondera," the other pilot responded.

There was no further communication from Chivayo's helicopter.

Chisi's aircraft landed in Marondera, where those on board waited for the Bell 430, believing it could have diverted or landed elsewhere because of the weather.

They eventually flew to Harare to collect vehicles and spent more than an hour trying to contact Chivayo, his wife and the pilots before learning that the helicopter had crashed.

The aircraft went down at about 5pm at Kudenga Farm near Waddilove Mission in Marondera Rural, killing everyone on board.

Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe director-general George Mashababe said preliminary observations indicated that fuel spilled after the helicopter struck the ground, resulting in a fire that also burnt surrounding grass.

Reports from the crash scene suggested that the aircraft's tail may have struck the ground first, although investigators have not yet released an official finding on the sequence of the impact.

A flight recorder recovered from the wreckage is expected to provide investigators with crucial information as they reconstruct the aircraft's final moments.

The investigation is expected to examine the recorder, radio communications, weather conditions and wreckage before determining what caused the helicopter to descend.

While Chisi's account points to challenging weather and poor visibility, the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe has not concluded that bad weather or spatial disorientation caused the crash.

The radio exchanges provide investigators with an account of the conditions confronting the pilots, but they do not establish why the aircraft ultimately lost control or descended.

Aviation authorities have said the cause remains under investigation and that a detailed report will be released after the necessary technical examinations have been completed.

The crash claimed the lives of Chivayo, Muteke, Magagula, Soda and Mutavirwa.

Police initially reported that six people were aboard the helicopter but later revised the figure to five and formally identified all the victims.