Dead pilot's husband says dreams crashed

Tebogo Lekalakala celebrates chalking up 1,000 flying hours in August 2019.
Image: Twitter/iamCaroline_M

The husband of one of three pilots who died when a flight inspection aircraft they were in smashed into a mountain outside George, Western Cape, says his hopes and dreams crashed with his wife.

First officer Tebogo Lekalakala, 33, Capt Thabiso Collins Tolo, 49, and flight inspector Gugu Comfort Mnguni, 36, died when the 33-year-old Cessna Citation they were in crashed in the southern Cape on Thursday.

Tebogo's husband Modikana Lekalakala yesterday said he was devastated by his wife's death.

"I got a call from CAA [Civil Aviation Authority] and they said they had lost contact with her plane - as someone who works in the aviation sector, I know what that means," he said.

"It means that the plane crashed if they can't locate it on the radar. That was my worst fear, but I was hoping that she would have survived despite that."

Lekalakala, who is an aviation quality manager, said he last spoke to Tebogo hours before she took off and that she said she would see him in the evening on Thursday.

"I am devastated because I was looking forward to seeing her. I didn't know that would be the last time I spoke to her."

Lekalakala said Tebogo was passionate about flying, but was dedicated to raising the couple's three children.

They met in November 2012 through his father and tied the knot in May 2013.

"She wanted us to grow old together and to live long enough for us to see our grandchildren. She was torn between her family and her career. She took a break from flying for about two years to focus on our family but she returned to flying because she loved it and wanted to grow her career," he said.

He said Tebogo got her wings in 2009 through the South African Air Force after she joined four years earlier.

Poppy Khoza, the authority's CEO, said: "We call on everyone to avoid any speculation and to afford the investigating team the necessary time and space to conduct a thorough investigation."

She said the three were "well-experienced and were among a handful of such specialised crew undertaking this work in the country and on the African continent".

Khoza said Tolo qualified in 2013 and had 4,959 hours of flying to his credit in total.

"He was the first black captain of our flight inspection unit. Before that he was a manager within the CAA's air safety operations division.

"First Officer Lekalakala had 1,050 hours of flying to her credit. She performed her last training at a flight safety simulator in San Antonio in the US," Khoza said.

"She was a co-pilot and the first black lady to fly for the flight inspection unit in 2019."

She said Mnguni had 1,300 flying hours to his credit and that he conducted his last training in Luxemburg.