What happened
On the morning of April 3, 1999, a private Beech A36 (registration ZS-PEW) was conducting a flight from Klerksdorp toward Paradise Beach. During the journey, the pilot encountered heavy cloud cover along the coast. Because the flight was being conducted under Visual Flight Rules (VFR), air traffic control advised the pilot to divert to Darlington Dam to wait for better weather. After remaining on the ground for nearly two hours, the pilot departed Darlington Dam to continue toward the intended destination.
During the second leg of the flight, the pilot encountered low-lying clouds and was instructed by ATC to either divert to Uitenhage or return to Darlington Dam. The pilot reported to controllers that fuel levels were becoming critically low and that the encroaching cloud layers were making it impossible to maintain visual contact with the ground. ATC subsequently directed the aircraft toward Port Elizabeth. Shortly after, radar contact was lost approximately 7nm north-west of Port Elizabeth. Search efforts led to the discovery of the wreckage by local police about 45 minutes later. The accident resulted in one fatality.