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Date
: 11/10/2002
Source: Ministry of Transport
Title: Helderberg inquiry will not be reopened
THERE IS NO NEW EVIDENCE TO JUSTIFY A REOPENING OF THE INQUIRY INTO
THE HELDERBERG DISASTER OF 28 NOVEMBER 1987, SAYS MINISTER OF
TRANSPORT, DULLAH OMAR
No new evidence has emerged which would justify reopening the
inquiry into the crash of SA 295 (The Helderberg) on 28 November
1987. Therefore, no further commission of inquiry will be appointed
or convened for the simple reason that there is no new evidence,
which can be placed before such an inquiry.
There have been many allegations such as:
* There were two fires on the Helderberg - one shortly after
take-off from Taipei, information on which was allegedly
suppressed,
* A second fire, which caused the fatal crash
* Inflammable material was being conveyed by SA 295 in
contravention of International prescripts
* The ZUR tape which kept a 24hr record of flight information was
deliberately removed and possibly destroyed
* The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) when enhanced, allegedly
contained information which threw new light on the Helderberg
disaster
As a result of all these allegations, the Minister of Transport
requested the National Director of Public Prosecutions and the
Chief Executive Officer of the Civil Aviation Authority to conduct
a thorough independent investigation into all the
allegations.
The National Director of Public Prosecutions was also requested to
interview available potential witnesses.
Adv J. Welch of the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions and
Mr Trevor Abrahams - Chief Executive Officer of the SA Civil
Aviation Authority - travelled to the United States to ascertain
whether the cockpit voice recorder when enhanced threw any new
light on the disaster.
The Minister of Transport hereby makes public the report of the
Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions; Adv. J. Welch dated 8
October 2001. In the report Adv Welch mentions all the persons who
were interviewed.
He also reports on the cockpit voice recorder, the transcript made
of it and the enhanced version of the tape made by the FBI He also
comments on the ZUR tape, which went missing.
On receipt of the report from Adv Welch of 8 October 2001, the
Minister of Transport requested Adv Welch to locate the persons who
had still not been interviewed and to interview them. Their names
are mentioned in the report.
The Minister has received a further report from Adv. Welch, dated
20 September 2002, indicating that he had interviewed most of the
persons (those who were available). He comes to the conclusion that
no new evidence has emerged which could be placed before a tribunal
or commission for consideration.
In the light of all the information currently available, the
Minister of Transport comes to the conclusion that to set up
another commission of inquiry will be entirely futile in that there
is no evidence available which can be placed before such an
enquiry, which will throw a different light on the Helderberg
disaster.
The legal representatives of relatives of the victims have on a
number of occasions approached the Minister. They were invited to
submit to the Minister statements from persons who according to
their knowledge can throw new light on the disaster. No such
statements have been forthcoming.
The reports of Adv Welch dated 21 May 2001, 8 October 2001 and 20
September 2002 were all placed before Cabinet. Cabinet has endorsed
the view of the Minister of Transport that there exists no basis
for reopening the inquiry.
The Minister of Transport will continue to monitor the situation.
He fully appreciates the trauma of relatives of victims and once
again conveys condolences to them.
The Minister knows that families want closure but above all they
want to know the truth. Whilst therefore the matter is closed for
the present from the point of view of Government, the Minister will
continue to monitor the situation and should any new evidence
become available he will asses it.
The Minister appeals to those who claim that there is new evidence
to place before an inquiry to submit statements to the Minister,
who will consider them on their merit. He cannot, however,
reconvene a commission of inquiry purely on the basis of
allegations and suspicions.
The reports submitted by the National Director of Public
Prosecutions office are being made public, and they can be accessed
on the Department's web site, www.transport.gov.za.
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