What happened
On the afternoon of 12 April 2025, a private flight involving a Slick 540, registration ZU-TNT, ended in a fatal accident near Kitty Hawk Aerodrome (FAKT) in Gauteng. The pilot had departed from FAKT with the intention of performing high-energy aerobatic maneuvers within a designated aerobatic box located west of the airfield. After completing several touch-and-go landings on Runway 01, the aircraft was observed by witnesses performing a series of rolls. However, the sequence eventually lost stability, and the aircraft entered a flat spin, impacting a private farm approximately 2.8 nautical miles east of the aerodrome. The impact resulted in one fatality and the total destruction of the aircraft.
The investigation
Investigators from the SACAA AIID examined wreckage, eyewitness accounts, and video footage to reconstruct the flight path. Analysis of the video by an aerobatic expert revealed that the aircraft was operating at low energy and idle engine power when it experienced a high-speed stall and a wing drop. While there was evidence of an attempt to level the wings, there was no visible release of the control stick or a reduction in the angle of attack to recover. Post-accident inspections of the Slick 540 confirmed that the engine and flight controls were fully functional prior to impact, with no mechanical failures contributing to the accident. The investigation also noted that the maneuvers were being performed outside the designated aerobatic box and below the recommended safety altitude.
Findings
- The aircraft entered a stall that transitioned into a fully developed spin during an aerobatic maneuver.
- The pilot was unable to recover the aircraft from the spin before ground impact.
- The maneuvers were conducted outside the authorized aerobatic box and below the required safety altitude, which significantly reduced the margin for error.
- The pilot's limited experience on this specific aircraft type, having only 1.6 hours on type, likely contributed to task saturation during the high-workload maneuver.
- The pilot likely misjudged the altitude required to safely recover from the high-energy maneuver.