A pilot died after deliberately crashing a stolen plane into a building in an apparent attempt to murder his wife in Botswana. The dramatic smash destroyed the building, an air traffic control tower, and 13 cars.
South African Charl Viljoen crashed a Beechcraft King Air B200 aircraft into the Matsieng Flying Club at the Matsieng Aerodrome in Rasesa, southern Botswana, where about 50 people had been celebrating a baby shower on Saturday.
A spokesperson for the club said the pilot flew by the club at a low level several times from different directions before the deadly crash.
“Matsieng Flying Club members sensed that the pilot might have had an ulterior motive at the time and ordered an immediate evacuation of the club premises by the approximately 50 attendees,” Mark Mansfield said, the Citizen reports.
Viljoen made a final run along the runway and hit the ground floor of the flying club building. The impact of the fatal smash completely destroyed the clubhouse and the adjacent air traffic control tower. The crash sparked an inferno that destroyed 13 vehicles that were parked nearby.
Because of the evacuation, no one except the pilot was seriously injured in the crash. Emergency services arrived on the scene to deal with the blaze. Viljoen, who worked for Kalahari Air Services, was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Mansfield revealed that Viljoen had attended a private function at the flying club earlier that day, and that he hadn’t been invited. He was rumoured to have had a fight with his wife and was asked to leave.
He reportedly went to the capital of Gaborone and stole an aircraft before flying back to the aerodrome and crashing into the clubhouse.
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