Morné Booij-Liewes
The September registration updates is a mixed bag of imports and exports. We see five type-certified fixed wing planes being registered during September, but no helicopters.
A brand-new Pilatus PC-24, ZS-NID, was delivered for the transport and logistics company Ni-Da, replacing their earlier model PC-24 that has been sold to a new owner, also based in South Africa. Few corporate jet owners have any branding or company names on the aircraft but Ni-Da proudly proclaims their ownership of this lovely new jet. The PC-24 is carving out a popular niche market in the country as this is the seventh of these jets to be registered in South Africa. It was delivered on 5 September and has entered service.
Global Airways has acquired another Airbus A320, ZS-GAB that will be wet leased by Gabon’s AfriJet and will fly under the Fly Gabon banner. The aircraft arrived at OR Tambo on 12 September in basic Etihad Airways livery and with its former registration, N2167, still applied. This Airbus was delivered new to the Dutch carrier Martinair in April 2004. It later joined the Etihad Airways fleet in December 2007 until it was withdrawn from service and stored at Abu Dhabi in November 2020. The plane was subsequently ferried to St Athan in Wales in November 2023 where it was noted with Fly Gabon titles applied in August this year. It was ferried to Libreville on 11 September and arrived at OR Tambo the following day. I look forward to seeing and photographing it in its new Fly Gabon livery soon.
The Beechcraft 1900D is a popular type in South Africa for domestic airline and charter operations and also for placing on the contract market in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. This month sees another added to the local registry as ZS-BGM (UE354). The owner was previously listed as Barrick Goldstrike Mines and I would hazard a guess that is still the case from its new registration. Interestingly this registration was previously allocated to a very early model Be1900C (UC4) that was sold to Swedish operator Jonair Affäsflyg earlier this year and reregistered SE-MJV. This is probably their replacement plane to operate in support of their African mining operations.
A type we don’t see much of in South Africa anymore is Cessna’s ‘push-pull’ 337 Skymaster. Last month we saw one of these distinctive planes being added to the NTC register and this month a second follows, albeit a type-certified one that has been operating for the City of Cape Town for some time with its American registration N932AS. This three-year R126 million contract to enhance its crime prevention capabilities with advanced aerial surveillance technology awarded by the city’s Safety and Security Directorate earlier this year raised some eyebrows, especially as this plane was not on the South African civil aircraft register. This has now clearly changed. The last plane added in September is also a Cessna, albeit a single engine model 182S.
Non Type Certified
The NTC fleet shows continued strong growth this month with 10 new additions for September in the updates. It’s been a while since any new gyrocopter registrations were noted, but this month sees a Magni M24 Orion gyrocopter registered. This is the flagship of the range and named after the Greek God Orion who was “the most handsome and imposing of the men”. It has a fully enclosed cockpit with side-by-side seating and is equipped with dual controls. It is powered by a 115hp Rotax 914 turbo engine and has an endurance of up to four hours.
Mbombela-based Bat Hawk Aircraft have sold a pair of Bat Hawk light sport aircraft (LSA) which they describe as the “most affordable LSA on the market”. A single Airplane Factory Sling TSi and a Shadow Lite Jabiru J430 complete the proudly SA-made additions for the month.
Two RVs join the large number of these popular types with one each RV-6 and a RV-10 being registered.
Weight-shift ultralight trikes are another type that recently feature less frequently in this column, but this month sees a French-manufactured DTA Voyageur II ZU-JBL registered. These aircraft were designed by Jean-Michel Dizier and produced by DTA sarl of Montélimar and are supplied complete and ready to fly.
The last addition is a Aerospool WT9 Dynamic LSA manufactured in Slovakia. This is a sleek two seat low-wing design.
CANCELLATIONS
Another of the short-lived ZS registered corporate jets has moved on, as predicted in this column, to Russia. This time it is the Falcon 7X, ZS-LOV, that was registered in South Africa in July of this year.
The Cessna 208B Grand Caravan ZS-CXD that ferried to Australia in August has now been cancelled from the ZS register as being exported to Australia. As mentioned in last month’s Register Review, the ATR72-600 ZS-LIZ has also been cancelled as exported to Gabon where it has been operating for Fly Gabon for more than a month.
Boeing 737-4S3, ZS-OAP has been cancelled as scrapped. This 737 had been part of the low cost carrier Kulula’s fleet and painted in the whimsical “Flying 102” livery but was parked at OR Tambo in 2020 for Covid and Comair’s subsequent liquidation. It was seen being cut up at the airport in August.
Another deletion is that of a Cessna 182L, ZS-FIX with the reason for its cancellation being due to an “accident”. A quick search on the internet reveals that the plane suffered a runway overrun on landing at Kokstad in February 2006 but was subsequently repaired and last noted at Rand Airport on 17 April of this year. I am not sure why its cancelled as destroyed as I cannot find a reference to it being involved in a crash subsequent to this photo being taken? Perhaps one of our readers can shed more light on this matter?
It is unusual to see not one but two helicopters cancelled as exported to the Philippines:- a Bell 505 ZT-RON and MD-500E ZT-RZZ. I wonder if they have both gone there on contract work?
Finally, there is only a single NTC type deregistered this month – a Savanna S noted as exported to Benin.
In closing this month, I cover a few new and notable aircraft and events that have not yet been recorded in this column from the SACAA-supplied updates.
On 12 September another geriatric 1978 model Citation ISP, N9ZB (501-0047) arrived on delivery to its new local owner. It has been flying out of Wonderboom Airport with its American registration so it’s unclear if it will take up ZS registry.
Another new delivery is a brand new super mid-size Bombardier Challenger 350, ZS-AKF (21023) that arrived at OR Tambo International Airport on 1 October from N’Djamena. This is the first of the upgraded Challenger 3500s delivered to SA. The model was announced in September 2022 with a redesigned interior, technology updates, a lower cabin altitude and the availability of the patented Nuage seat. While launched as the Challenger 3500, these are still seemingly referred to as Challenger 350s. This is the second use of this registration on a Challenger 350, this previously carried on c/n 20870 which was subsequently sold and now flies as N923JL.
In September, several photos were published on social media showing a HS125 corporate jet being towed through the streets of East London from the King Phalo Airport to an unnamed church in the city where it is reportedly to be put on display. The livery matches that of ZS-TBN, a 1965 vintage model HS-125-F1A (025023) that was previously operated by Trinity Broadcasting Investments. This plane was parked in a derelict state at the East London Airport for several years until its recent move to its new (and probably final) home.
On 17 September jihadist gunmen attacked several locations across Bamako, including the Mobido Keita International Airport. Video footage emerged afterwards of a Beechcraft 1900D, ZS-JAG (UE115), operated by National Airways Corporation on behalf of the UN’s World Food Programme, that was riddled with machine gun fire while an unsuccessful attempt was also made to burn it by setting fire to a motorcycle under the port wing. Video footage circulated on social media shows extensive damage, so it is very likely that this plane will be written off as damaged beyond economic repair. This is a sad and unnecessary loss of a plane that was performing humanitarian work in support of the citizens of Mali.