Radio DJ's partner dies in crash

2009-12-14 08:42

Sonja van Buul, Philip de Bruin and Wolfram Zwecker

Johannesburg - The life partner of radio personality Amoré Bekker is one of the two men who died when their plane crashed south of Johannesburg over the weekend.

Dr Robbie Nutt and Paul Geng, both of Johannesburg, were co-owners of the Extra 300 airplane in which they crashed.

Bekker said she finds comfort in the fact that Nutt died while practicing his one great passion - aerobatics.

"Robbie loved aerobatics and just last week he took part in his first official competition. He even came second."

Nutt and Geng had taken off from the Rand airport. At about 08:40 the plane - used for team aerobatics by the North West Falcons - crashed near the Tedderfield Air Park in Eikenhof.

The police's Shado Mashobane said the men had presumably been performing an aerobatic manoeuvre when the plane fell. They are presumed to have died on impact.

In another incident, a Piper Arrow of the Sky Raiders flying school also took off from the Rand Airport shortly after 08:00.

It is unclear whether the pilot had experienced engine problems and therefore tried to land again, or whether he wasn't able to reach sufficient altitude in time, but the plane crashed through the concrete fence at the end of the runway.

It then tore across Rand Airport Road, near the T-junction with Power Street, before coming to a stop almost right against the fence of the Germiston golf course.

According to Chris Botha from Netcare 911, the two occupants were unscathed.

- Beeld