Final hours: Inside Wicknell Chivayo's last flight before deadly crash

Wicknell Chivayo's bodyguard, Froster Chisi, has pointed to poor weather conditions he observed during the flight that ended in the fatal helicopter crash in Zimbabwe's Marondera Rural area.

Chisi described noticing difficult weather while airborne in a separate helicopter travelling alongside the one carrying Chivayo.

Speaking to ZBC News online, the security detail stated that the two aircraft were not flying together as a single unit, meaning Chisi was not on board when the tragedy struck.

His account, however, places him among the last people to have seen the prominent businessman alive, making his testimony particularly significant as the investigation unfolds.

According to Chisi, the weather deteriorated significantly during the journey, a detail he says shadowed the flight from an early stage, long before the crash occurred.

Before boarding the helicopter, Chivayo had travelled to his rural home to check on a house he was in the process of constructing.

The visit appeared entirely routine, the kind of trip he likely made regularly to oversee progress on the build. Nothing in footage from the visit hints at the tragedy that was about to unfold just a short while later.

After completing the inspection, Chivayo and those travelling with him boarded a helicopter meant to ferry them back to Harare.

The aircraft crashed approximately 40 minutes after take-off, bringing a sudden and tragic end to what had, up to that point, been an unremarkable day.

The video of the earlier visit has quickly circulated on social media, and many viewers have been struck by the ordinary, peaceful scenes, which contrast starkly with the events that occurred only minutes after the footage was recorded.

Chisi's observations are now being viewed as potentially significant as investigators piece together a timeline of events leading up to the crash.

Authorities, however, have not yet named bad weather as the confirmed or official cause of the accident.

Investigators are expected to weigh several factors, including mechanical conditions and flight data, before drawing any formal conclusions.

Examination of the wreckage and the prevailing flight conditions at the time remains ongoing, with further updates expected as the probe progresses.