The helicopter crashed on the mountain during a fire operation on Wednesday.
Image: screenshot
A vegetation fire quickly turned into a life-saving rescue on Wednesday after a helicopter crashed in the mountain above Hout Bay and Constantia Nek.
The fire, which initially started on Tuesday, just before 2pm was reported along the mountain slopes at Grotto Road in Hout Bay.
The City of Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson, Jermaine Carelse, said firecrews from the Hout Bay Fire Station immediately responded with a fire engine and a water tanker.
“Upon arrival, the officer requested another five fire engines and two water tankers, which were immediately dispatched. We also dispatched an Incident Management Team to manage the fire attack. Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) staff requested additional helicopters from the City (they have one contracted to them) to assist with firefighting efforts,” Carelse said.
Three helicopters and one fixed-wing spotter were working head-on trying to contain the fire, and TMNP had 37 crew members working on the fire on the ground.
However, the fire crested the mountain ridge overnight towards Klein Constantia.
Carelse said several flare-ups were spotted, fanned by prevailing winds in the mountain areas.
At the time, Carelse said helicopters would resume waterbombing the area and attempt to quell the flare-ups and support ground crews.
However, things quickly turned dangerous when a helicopter assisting in water bombing the vegetation fire crashed on the mountain.
In a video, being filmed by what is presumed to be a resident, the helicopter can be seen heading up the mountain. One of the blades strikes the mountain, and the helicopter goes down.
Mayoral committee member for safety and security, Alderman JP Smith, confirmed the incident.
“While we were trying to assist SANParks with the fire burning above the Hout Bay and Constantia Nek, one of the SANParks-contracted helicopters seemed to have clipped the mountain with its main rotor and crashed on the mountain,” Smith said.
He further confirmed the pilot had survived the crash.
“The pilot survived. We immediately activated an 'Incident Management Team 5' and deployed rescue technicians up the mountain face. Enforcement officers were dispatched to secure the crash site until SAPS and the Civil Aviation Authority were able to take over the scene,” Smith said.
IOL