By Simon Masore
MASVINGO – New details have emerged regarding the tragic plane crash that claimed the life
of a pilot and seriously injured his wife in a mountainous area between Zaka and Bikita districts
on Sunday morning, with witnesses now revealing that the woman attempted to escape using a
parachute moments before impact.
Police have confirmed the incident, which occurred at around 11 AM in Nyoka Village,
approximately 85 kilometres southeast of Masvingo. Investigators from the Civil Aviation
Authority of Zimbabwe have since been dispatched to the scene to establish the cause of the
crash.
“The Zimbabwe Republic Police confirms an aircraft crash which occurred on 15th March 2026
at around 1100 hours at Nyoka Village, Zaka, Masvingo Province.
One person was killed while another person was injured when an aircraft carrying two occupants
crashed before being engulfed by fire. The aircraft, which was travelling from Komani
Aerodrome in Mt Hampden, Harare to Chipinda Pools, had reportedly developed a mechanical
fault and began emitting an unusual sound,” reads the police statement.
According to eyewitnesses who spoke to TellZim News, the aircraft was mid-air when
something burst, causing it to start swerving and descending rapidly. The pilot desperately tried
to navigate the plane before it ultimately nose-dived and crashed among trees and tall grass and
later caught fire.
Sources identified the two occupants as husband and wife and said moments before the crash, the
woman reportedly attempted to escape the aircraft using a parachute.
However, the parachute became caught in the plane’s wings before tearing apart, causing her to
fall separately from the aircraft which was lowering to the ground.
She crashed to the ground a few metres away from where the plane eventually nose-dived,
breaking both legs in the process.
Villagers who rushed to the scene said they arrived while the wreckage was still burning. They
could see the pilot trapped inside the burning aircraft but were unable to open the doors to rescue
him.
The aircraft later burst into flames again, creating an opening that allowed villagers to finally
access the wreckage.
Using a tree log, the community members managed to pull the pilot’s body from the burning
plane.
Tragically, the pilot was already dead and had been burnt from the waist downwards. Witnesses
described seeing his right leg still trapped inside the aircraft after being badly burnt, while bones
from his left leg were exposed due to the severity of the fire.
Two villagers, Jairos Nyoka and Jeffrey Nyoka, were among those who bravely helped retrieve
the pilot’s body from the burning wreckage.
The injured woman was found screaming in pain, repeatedly asking if her husband, who was
trapped in the plane, was still alive.
Villagers who attended the scene said they tried to ask her what had happened and what the
couple had been doing before the crash.
The injured woman was rushed to hospital, and her current condition remains unknown. Some
locals claimed the couple are believed to be Australians, although authorities had not confirmed
their identities at the time of writing.
Ward 2 Councilor Sarah Mamvura who also visited the crash site corroborated the sources
accounts to TellZim News saying she had face to face interviews with the immediate responders.
