NELSPRUIT - The bodies of Mr Johann Diedericks and Ms Anita Lie were finally recovered on Friday after they died in an aircraft crash near Bushbuckridge on Wednesday.
Technical rescue teams of the Mountain Club of South Africa, Limpopo and Mpumalanga Police Search and Rescue as well as the South African Air Force (SAAF) 19 and 41 squadrons undertook the extremely difficult task of removing their remains from the wreckage of the Cessna 182M in which they were killed on impact after it hit a cliff face in the Drakensberg mountain range.
The couple were on their way back to Hoedspruit when their plane crashed about 30 minutes after take-off from Nelspruit Airfield at 16:00.
Huey pilot Mr Mark Jackson of Leading Edge Aviation, was the first to spot the wreckage from the air early Thursday morning.
An SAAF helicopter was able to hoist members of the Mountain Club Search and Rescue team down to a precarious position on the cliff to confirm that there were no survivors. Incoming inclement weather, the dangerous terrain as well as the unstable, mangled wreckage prevented the immediate start of the recovery phase of the operation. The rescue teams also had to fly in additional equipment and specialists to execute the technical recovery which was completed on Friday. Rescue team members, who had to be connected to ropes during most of the operation, had to use special lightweight, battery- operated machinery (only recently acquired by Police Search and Rescue) to cut away the mangled wreckage to access the victims and obtain evidence which could assist Civil Aviation in their investigating into the accident. The aircraft wreckage will remain on the mountain as it is too dangerous to remove it. Commenting on the fact that it could not have been a pleasant task, Mr Rob Thomas, rescue organiser of the Mountain Club of South Africa Search and Rescue,  said, "Our heartfelt condolences go out to the families of the deceased. We do, however, find some comfort in knowing we were able to assist the families to find some level of conclusion to a very sad week. As a volunteer organisation we are proud to serve the community through application of our mountaineering skills in the spirit of Mandela Day which was celebrated just a few days ago."
At the time of going to press, funeral arrangements had not been finalised.