Chivayo aide recounts last moments before the helicopter crash

A security aide attached to Zimbabwean businessman Wicknell Chivayo has given a chilling account of the final moments before a helicopter crash that claimed five lives on September 30, 2026, describing a series of increasingly desperate radio calls from a pilot who appeared to lose his bearings in bad weather.

The aide, who was travelling in a separate helicopter, said both aircraft were on their way back when conditions in the sky deteriorated rapidly.

The pilot of the second helicopter, carrying Chivayo, took the initiative to suggest an alternative route.

“On our way back, the weather became challenging, and our pilot suggested that we reroute and go via Bromley instead,” the aide said.

“What I observed during the pilots’ communication was that the pilot flying the boss (Chivayo) kept saying: ‘I’m in bad weather, I haven’t exited the cloud.'”

According to the aide, the situation grew more alarming with each exchange.

The stricken pilot’s last confirmed transmission placed him somewhere over Surrey, a detail that did little to reassure those monitoring the radio. When the aide’s own pilot reported being ten minutes from their destination, the other pilot’s response raised immediate concern. “The pilot flying the boss appeared confused, asking, ‘Which destination?’ Our pilot responded that Marondera, but no reply came. All communication with the other helicopter was lost,” the aide recounted as reported by ZimLive.

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The sudden silence marked the end of contact with the aircraft, which subsequently crashed, killing everyone on board.

The aide also moved to correct the figures that had circulated in the hours following the disaster.

Earlier reports had put the number of fatalities at six, but the aide stated clearly that only five people died in the crash. No further names or identities were confirmed in his account.

Chivayo, who was travelling in the ill-fated helicopter, was among the high-profile passengers on the flight. The crash has drawn widespread attention given his public profile, and the aide’s eyewitness account offers the most detailed picture yet of what unfolded in the cockpit during those final minutes.

The couple had left a site where they were overseeing construction of their rural home just 40 minutes before the aircraft came down.

Investigators had yet to establish what caused the crash.

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