Police name NZ tourists killed in safari plane crash

By STAFF REPORTERS

Three young New Zealand tourists killed when their light plane crashed in a wildlife spot in Botswana, southern Africa, have been named by police.

They were Paul Leo Winstanley, 25, of New Plymouth; Jeanette Margaret O'Sullivan, 26, of Gisborne; and Evonne Marie Brennan, who had been living in Queensland.

Mrs Brennan's 28-year-old husband, from Queensland, was also killed, along with the pilot of the Cessna 206, Richard Colson from Johannesburg, which crashed on a 30-minute sightseeing flight to the Okavango Delta in the country's northeast.

Yesterday, the family of Mr Winstanley said they believed he was on board.

His brother Anton, who did not take the flight, phoned his parents Peter and Caroline to break the news.

The brothers had been on OE in London and Canada, where they skied, snowboarded and travelled together, for two years before heading to Africa.

The three victims were on a safari tour to the delta, a maze of lagoons and islands covering 15,000 sq km and filled with wildlife, making it one of Africa's top tourist destinations and a Mecca for budget travellers.

The first bodies were flown out by helicopter last night (New Zealand time) after being guarded overnight by members of the Botswana Defence Force to ward off scavenging wild animals, especially lions.

The other bodies were due to be flown out early today.

The plane took off from Maun, the main town for access to the Delta, on a routine game viewing flight.

On its return, it crashed 16.5 km from the airport after suddenly losing altitude. All five on board were killed instantly.

The British High Commission in Botswana said a brother of one of the people killed in the accident was in Maun on the same tour, and had told his parents.

Distraught members of the tour group, camping at a local hotel, were comforted by hotel staff and paramedics after news of the tragedy was received.

Earlier, the group went on mokoro (dugout canoe) trips into the Delta, one of the world's top eco-tourism sites and next stop on many budget tourists' safaris after the Victoria Falls to the east in Zimbabwe.

The Delta is one of Africa's largest areas of free-roaming wildlife, including waterbucks, impala, elephants and giraffes.

Tourists go there to see the animals along its edges and take boat trips through the lagoons.

The director of the Botswana Department of Civil Aviation,Tsegaye Meshesha, told the Herald last night that the light plane rapidly lost altitude as it approached Maun Airport shortly before 5.45 pm Tuesday local time.

"I am very sorry to New Zealanders that this has happened," he said.

"We really don't know what happened.

"At the time, the aircraft was coming in to land. There were other aircraft nearby, and they saw it lose altitude rapidly."

Botswana authorities said the unnamed pilot reported in his final message to the control tower that he expected to land in just a few minutes. Instead, the plane crashed northwest of the airport in rugged terrain.

A Botswana Defence Force helicopter saw the aircraft descending and landed immediately after the accident.

An investigation has started.

The aircraft was owned by Moremi Air, a charter operation based in Maun, a town to the south of the Delta and the main tourist base.

The weather was fine and clear, as the rainy season from October to the end of March had finished, and conditions for flying were good.

The New Zealand Deputy High Commissioner in Pretoria, Catherine Grant, is on her way to Maun to comfort the New Zealanders who knew the victims or were on the safari tour.

Once there, she will assist in making arrangements for the bodies to be sent to New Zealand - although it is understood the bodies may not be released for several days.