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A pilot flying four passengers from Cape Town to Nelspruit had to make an emergency landing in Welkom, when a “fifth passenger” slid down his back.
Rudolph Erasmus (30) had to declare an emergency over Welkom when a highly venomous Cape Cobra made its appearance in the small aircraft.
Once Erasmus had landed, he and his four passengers made a hasty and rapid exit from the Beechcraft Baron. Erasmus is being hailed as a hero for his quick and calm response to a very dangerous situation.
Welkom’s own aviation expert Brian Emmenis was called to help the aircraft land, and arrived with snake handler, Johan de Klerk in tow.
As of Tuesday the snake was still in the Baron and expert aircraft engineers from Bloemfontein had to come to Welkom and strip the aircraft of its panels in search of the elusive cobra.
Various pilots in South Africa have rallied around to have Erasmus declared a hero for his expert handling of the situation.
Poppy Khosa, the South African Civil Aviation commissioner has hailed Erasmus as a hero.
“Oh my goodness this could have been disastrous. Great airmanship indeed which saved all lives on board. Such an amazing story and great handling of the situation by the pilot. Bravo to great airmanship,” said Khoza.
“At first I thought it was my water bottle pressing against my back but then I realized it was something else and didn’t move.”
He realized it was a snake because two other pilots happened to see the Cape cobra near the Beechcraft Baron plane on Sunday in Worcester.
He and his passengers flew from Worcester to Nelspruit on Monday morning.
They landed in Bloemfontein for fuel and flew on.
About 60 km north of Welkom, the uninvited Capetonian made his appearance. Erasmus immediately arranged for an emergency landing at Welkom’s airport.
Welkom’s airport no longer has a control tower and the Civil Aviation Authority called Brian Emmenis, a Welkom aviation expert to arrange for Erasmus to land there.
They called on fireman and snake catcher, Johan de Klerk, to come and help, but by Tuesday there was still no sign of the cobra.
