Niël Terblanché
More charges were levelled against Antje Nauhaus, the 34-year-old woman that was arrested on Sunday in Swakopmund in connection with the deadly helicopter crash which cost the lives of two men.
Besides facing charges of forgery, fraud, utterance and various charges related to the violation of the Namibian Civil Aviation Act, Nauhaus was also charged with culpable homicide.
Nauhaus, who up until her arrest was an employee of Namibia Base Aviation, made her first appearance before Swakopmund Magistrate Nelao Brown and was formally informed about the charges against her.
She stands accused of unlawfully and intentionally providing a fake, forged, and altered certificate of aircraft registration in Namibia and a forged flight test permit for the helicopter that crashed on the outskirts of Swakopmund last Monday.
The tragic crash of the Robinson R44 helicopter claimed the lives of 54-year-old flying instructor and test pilot, Jaques Jacobs and aircraft technician Dirk von Weidts (29).
The helicopter was reportedly brought to Namibia from South Africa and it was going through a process of being registered in Namibia. Once the aircraft was fully imported and registered, it would have been sold to a Namibian big game farmer.
Certain technical aspects had to be complied with which would have made the aircraft eligible for its final registration in Namibia.
A part of the process was to perform a final flight test.
It was during the test flight which was performed with a forged permit that the pilot lost control of the aircraft and crashed.
The charge of culpable homicide was added to Nauhaus’s chargesheet because the deaths of the two men could have been prevented. The helicopter should never have been allowed to fly in Namibian airspace without the correct and legitimate documentation.
During Nauhaus’s arrest on Sunday members of the Namibian Police confiscated two iPhones, a smaller cellular phone, two USB memory sticks, six computers, two laptop computers, 141 logbooks and three boxes containing financial documents and invoices.
Some of the items that were confiscated by investigators were obtained from the offices of Namibia Base Aviation with the help of a search warrant that was issued by the Swakopmund Magistrate’s Court.
State Prosecutor, Anita Likius, opposed bail for Nauhaus on the grounds of the seriousness of the charges she faces and that it would not be in the interest of justice to set her free. The state prosecutor also stated that Nauhaus poses a flight risk and applied to the court that she be remanded in custody until her next appearance.
Magistrate Brown remanded the accused person in custody and postponed the matter until 2 October 2023. The magistrate informed Nauahuas of her right to bring a formal bail application before the court in the meantime.
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