What happened
A scheduled flight departed from Jan Smuts Airport at 11:15 local time, bound for Belvedere Airport in Salisbury. The flight was operating under Visual Flight Rules (VFR) and was carrying a total of 28 people, consisting of 23 passengers and 5 crew members.
During the final approach to runway 27 from the east, the aircraft encountered a thunderstorm. At approximately 14:27 local time, the landing gear made contact with the ground at a position slightly north and east of the runway threshold. This impact caused the starboard tire to fail and resulted in the breakage of the starboard undercarriage leg. Additionally, the engine on the starboard side sustained heavy damage.
In an attempt to recover, the pilot initiated an overshoot procedure. However, because the damaged starboard engine and propeller were unable to produce necessary power, and the aircraft's airspeed had dropped below the minimum threshold required for stable control, a crash landing became unavoidable. While the aircraft was extensively damaged, there were 0 fatalities and 0 injuries among the occupants.
Findings
The investigation concluded that neither pilot error nor mechanical failure was responsible for the accident. Instead, the incident was attributed to a combination of unexpected environmental factors. Specifically, the sudden onset of heavy rainfall at a critical stage of the approach was identified as the primary factor leading to the loss of control.