TRC Cases Inquiry | Rietbok families challenge decades-old crash investigation

Nearly 60 years after South African Airways Flight 406 crashed off the coast of East London, the families of the 25 people killed are challenging the official account of the disaster, alleging that crucial evidence was deliberately concealed.

The allegations emerged at the TRC Cases Inquiry on Friday, where Robyn Lichter, the daughter of one of the victims, told the inquiry that bodies were recovered, the wreckage was located and search personnel were allegedly placed under secrecy restrictions.

The Rietbok was investigated by Justice Cecil Margo, whose inquiry concluded that the likely cause of the crash was pilot Captain Lipowski suffering a heart attack.

But Lichter is disputing that finding, pointing to evidence she says was either ignored or excluded from the official investigation.

She says a control tower memo recorded that 21 bodies had been found just hours after the crash, but that this was later allegedly denied.

Lichter also told the inquiry that search personnel reported seeing wreckage and bodies in the water.

She says one body was eventually recovered, subjected to a post-mortem and buried in an unmarked grave, but that this was not reflected in the Margo inquiry.

Another allegation concerns Captain, Jimmy Boyd, who was appointed chief investigator following the crash.

According to Lichter, Boyd became concerned about what he discovered during his investigation in East London and told his wife that there were serious irregularities.

Lichter says Boyd later died in what was recorded as a heart attack, but no post-mortem was conducted.

She also alleges that Underwater Technical Services, a specialist company brought in to search for the aircraft, located the wreckage using underwater scanning equipment, but that its findings and scanning reports were excluded from the Margo report.

The families took their concerns to the TRC in 1998, submitting what they described as evidence of a cover-up.

Almost six decades on, the central question before the inquiry is whether the official explanation for the Rietbok crash tells the full story, and what happened to evidence the families say was recovered but never properly investigated.

Proceedings have adjourned and are expected to resume on Monday.

@TRC_inquiry
Ms Lichter: After the crash, there was no report from SAA, Ministry of Transport and the Police.

— TRC_inquiry (@TRC_inquiry) September 4, 2026

Written by: Lebohang Ndashe