The actual accident site was in a remote, inaccessible corner of South Africa, approximately from the Mozambican border. The left wing hit a tree and the aircraft broke up before sliding down a hill, distributing the wreckage over a debris field in length. A police officer was alerted at approximately 23:00 by a villager from Mbuzini, and the first responder to the scene was a member of the Komatipoort police station who arrived at 23:40. The first medical personnel reached the site at 01:00. Shortly after 04:00, a helicopter and medical crew from the South African Air Force base at Hoedspruit arrived and evacuated the survivors to Nelspruit hospital.