How pilot survived his desert 'adventure'
April 13 2007 at 04:34AM
By Alex Eliseev
A 500ml bottle of mineral water, a GPS device and some knowledge of the bush is what kept a Johannesburg pilot alive in the harsh Botswana desert for almost four days.
Nevertheless, it was "a big adventure", Charles Wooler said when he arrived at OR Tambo International Airport on Thursday night.
There was no one at the airport to meet the feisty pilot and he made his way to sit quietly and wait for his wife Maggie to fetch him.
'I'm in perfect health and so is my plane'
Reluctant to speak about why he flew off course and was forced to make an emergency landing on Sunday, Wooler merely said: "I'm in perfect health and so is my plane."
Rescuers found the 68-year-old from Northcliff in "remarkably good shape" about 6pm on Wednesday.
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After losing his way while returning from Namibia on Sunday, Wooler made an emergency landing in arid south-western Botswana.
Describing his ordeal, Wooler revealed that after landing safely, he spent a night in his two-seater Diamond Katana. The next morning he left a note in the aircraft, in which he wrote that he was walking south to Middelputs in the Kalahari Desert. He gave a radius in which a search party could find him.
For the next two days and two nights Wooler wandered through the desert dunes. "I didn't see a soul. That place is empty, that I can tell you," he said.
'There was never a problem with anything'
But the experienced pilot said he didn't feel scared sleeping under the stars. "There was never a problem with anything. It was an adventure and an exciting time. It is a wonderful place."
For food, Wooler relied on his knowledge of the bush and said he ate twigs and anything else he could find in the dunes. "There are these animals that look like mongooses and they dig holes all over the place. And as I walked, I kept falling into these holes."
The desert was extremely hot and water ran short, he added.
Wooler said his plane has a special locating device which sends out SOS signals, which were picked up by the search party that had been assembled by Botswana authorities.
They used special wildlife trackers to follow his footsteps, and a military helicopter to scout for him from the air.
After he was found by the search party, Wooler was taken to a hospital in Tshabong and placed on a drip because he was dehydrated.
The Botswana authorities were extremely helpful and generous, he said.
On Thursday he was flown to Gaborone and was met by Chantelle Murray, an attache from the SA High Commission.
Murray helped book Wooler on a plane to Johannesburg, which landed at 6pm.
After investigations are complete, Wooler will need to get his plane home from Botswana.
Asked if he was planning to fly again soon, he simply replied: "Of course."
He was surprised that his disappearance and rescue had made headlines. "Nobody missed me," he joked.
When told that journalists had readied themselves to join the search parties, Wooler replied: "Why don't you just join me next time?"
And as for his feelings on finally being home? "I'm happy. It's really fantastic."
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