One of Wicknell Chivayo’s aides, identified as Froster Chisi, has revealed the last moments before the helicopter carrying the Zimbabwean businessman crashed, killing everyone on board.
Chisi said he was travelling in a separate helicopter carrying Chivayo’s security aides.
That was the chopper Chivayo had been filming in the video that emerged shortly before the crash.
Speaking to journalists at the crash site, Chisi said the two helicopters encountered “challenging weather conditions” while returning from Gandami in Chivhu, Chivayo’s rural home.
“The boss (Chivayo) said we should go to Gandami. We left Harare at 3PM and took off from Chivhu at 4.20PM for the return flight. We were supposed to have a stopover in Marondera before continuing on to Harare,” he said.
Chisi said that as they headed back, the weather deteriorated, prompting the pilot of the second helicopter to suggest that they reroute through Bromley.
He said the pilot flying Chivayo repeatedly communicated that he was struggling with the weather.
“I’m in bad weather; I haven’t exited the cloud,” the pilot reportedly said.
According to Chisi, the pilot’s last communication was that he was flying over Surrey.
“Our pilot then said he was 10 minutes from destination, and the pilot flying the boss appeared confused, asking, ‘Which destination?’ Our pilot responded that Marondera, but no reply came. All communication with the other helicopter was lost,” Chisi recounted.
Chisi said they landed in Marondera and waited for Chivayo’s helicopter, but it never arrived. They later flew to Harare to collect vehicles, believing the helicopter may have landed elsewhere because of the weather.
They spent more than an hour trying to reach Chivayo, his wife and the crew before receiving the devastating news that the helicopter had crashed and that there were no survivors.
“There was the boss (Chivayo), his wife, the wife’s aide, and two pilots,” Chisi said.
The crash reportedly involved a heavy impact, while the helicopter’s black box was recovered intact as investigations into the incident continue.
