The Directorate of Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigations has released the final safety report on the Swakopmund helicopter crash, which claimed the lives of Chief Pilot Jacques Jacobs (54) and aviation engineer Dirk Von Weidts (29).
The report reveals that the helicopter was not airworthy at the time of the test flight.
According to the final safety report, the Robinson R44 helicopter underwent maintenance on its rotary blades.
Following the repairs, the helicopter was taken for a test flight, during which the fatal crash occurred.
The report highlighted that the helicopter was not certified for airworthiness in either Namibia or South Africa at the time of the accident.
The South African airworthiness certificate expired on December 31, 2018, and the aircraft was never successfully registered in Namibia.
Further findings from the report revealed that the pilot, Jacques Jacobs, was highly experienced, with 10,958.7 hours of flight time.
He was also a designated examiner for the Namibia Civil Aviation Authority and a respected flight instructor.
However, the report raised concerns about the involvement of Von Weidts, an apprentice maintenance engineer who was not licensed, and there were no records of him being certified by the NCAA or having attended any maintenance courses for Robinson helicopters.
Last year, a 34-year-old woman, Anje Nauhaus, was arrested and appeared in the Swakopmund Magistrate's Court in connection with the crash.
Nauhaus is accused of fraud, forgery, uttering, and violations of the Civil Aviation Act. She has also been charged with culpable homicide and was released on bail of N$15,000.
The charges against Nauhaus stem from allegations that she unlawfully and intentionally misrepresented a fake, forged, and altered certificate of registration and flight test permit for the helicopter.
The helicopter, which bore the Namibian registration number V5-HGG, was never officially registered in Namibia, despite an application being made in February 2022.
The reservation period for registration lapsed after six months without completion, rendering the helicopter unregistered.