Fatal helicopter crash caught on camera in Cape Town CBD [GRAPHIC] 🎥 Real Video News | Channify

Taped off the news, Wednesday the 10 February 1999. I went in to Town, Strand Street was cordoned off but I snuck past the barriers. There was debris everywhere, including rotors. I took home a small piece. A Mil Mi-8MTV helicopter crashed into the roof of an office block in central Cape Town, South Africa, on 10 February, killing its four crew. The helicopter, operated by Heyns Helicopters of Nelspruit, was carrying an underslung load - an air conditioning unit - to a nearby building when its tail rotor hit a roof-mounted billboard and the tailboom sheared off. The pilot lost control and the aircraft fell onto the roof of an office block, exploding on impact. Investigators from the South African Civil Aviation Authority are examining the operator's pre-mission planning and reconnaissance, the marshalling arrangements, and the weather. New regulations governing the operation of helicopters with external loads were recently published as part of South Africa's new aviation legislation. These include the mandatory aid of a ground marshal communicating with the crew via radio or hand-signals. If a marshal cannot be employed, the helicopter must have a mirror enabling the crew to see beyond the tail-rotor. Thanks Aruana Zeelie for the info. -------------------------------------------- Helicopter Explosion (a poem I wrote at the time) The chaos is over The collision has happened The tail did break off The explosion did occur The fire was put out The withered, charred corpses were removed The steel skeleton was taken away But something remained Not only a black mark What do the people gaze at? Crowds of them Looking up at nothing To the building top where the helicopter crashed All is gone yet something lingers The terror, the fright, the death I climb under the barrier Past the ratels - SAPs and SADF Past the soldiers, the cops The road is littered, Strand Street I pick up a twisted metal A souvenir to take home A physical piece of the news Then move on But some remain A show so spectacular A Guy Fawkes, the Unexpected, the Unordinary The Violence and death Yet we missed it Content with lingerings