Charter Hi (Pty) Ltd v Minister of Transport

An aircraft accident occurred on 13 December 1996 near Cape Town involving a Beechcraft King Air C90 aircraft jointly owned by the appellants. The aircraft was piloted by Mr Jonathan Grant, who was undergoing an instrument rating competency test, with Mr Ray Grinstead, an official flight examiner appointed under the Aviation Act 74 of 1962, seated alongside him. During a simulated engine failure while flying under instrument conditions, with the undercarriage lowered and flaps extended, the aircraft lost control, entered a spin, and crashed from about 2 500 feet above ground level. All three occupants were killed and the aircraft was destroyed. The appellants sued the Minister of Transport, alleging that the accident was caused by Mr Grinstead’s negligence and that the Minister was vicariously liable.

The appeal was dismissed with costs, including the costs of two counsel.

The case is significant for clarifying the application of delictual negligence principles to aviation accidents in South African law. It affirms that even where an examiner is in overall command of a flight, liability depends on proof of negligence measured against the standard of a reasonable expert, not on the mere occurrence of a catastrophic outcome. It also reinforces the limited role of res ipsa loquitur in complex technical contexts such as aviation.