Mynie Steffens lifeless at 43: Beloved TV chef dies after helicopter crashes into energy traces

[ad_1] By T. ZELLER - DAILYMAIL.COM REPORTER

Revealed: 10:24 EST, 12 November 2025 | Up to date: 10:38 EST, 12 November 2025

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--> --> Beloved South African chef and TV persona Mynie Steffens has tragically died in a helicopter crash.

A number of native shops report 43-year-old star was killed when the helicopter she was piloting went down on a citrus farm close to Patensie within the Japanese Cape on Monday.

Steffens — who was additionally a licensed pilot, cookbook creator, and co-host of a cooking show — had reportedly been spraying pesticides over the farm’s orange crops shortly earlier than 8 a.m. when the plane immediately crashed.

In response to stories, the helicopter made contact with energy traces moments earlier than influence.

'Data that's at our disposal signifies that the pilot was conducting a pest management operation flight when the helicopter struck energy traces and crashed,' the AIID (Accidents and Incidents Investigations Division) stated in a press release obtained by the George Herald .

'The helicopter itself was considerably broken on account of influence drive.'

Beloved South African chef and TV persona Mynie Steffens has tragically died in a helicopter crash

A number of native shops report 43-year-old star was killed when the helicopter she was piloting went down on a citrus farm close to Patensie within the Japanese Cape on Monday

Photographs printed by the outlet present the wreckage resting in a grassy space of the farm, with massive sections of the fuselage torn away.

Authorities have since launched an investigation into the deadly crash.

The South African Police Service has not but issued a remark.

Steffens co-hosted the VIA TV life-style cooking sequence Speel met Vuur and later launched a cookbook below the identical title.

She reportedly created the present along with her longtime good friend and fellow host, Aldi Van der Walt, after the 2 reconnected 16 years after highschool.

On the present, the pair traveled throughout South Africa to arrange inventive takes on conventional dishes.

Chatting with IOL within the hours following the crash, Van der Walt described the sudden lack of her childhood good friend as a 'huge shock' and a 'tragic loss.'

She remembered Steffens as somebody who embraced each second, saying she lived life 'to the complete.'

<img id="i-d8ee51e061d7227c" src="https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/11/12/15/103820129-15284501-image-a-13_1762961797946.jpg" height="656" width="634" alt="Steffens — who was also a licensed pilot, cookbook author, and co-host of a cooking show — had reportedly been spraying pesticides over the farm’s orange crops shortly before 8 a.m. when the aircraft suddenly crashed" class="blkBorder img-share" style="max-width:100%" loading="lazy" /> Steffens — who was additionally a licensed pilot, cookbook creator, and co-host of a cooking present — had reportedly been spraying pesticides over the farm’s orange crops shortly earlier than 8 a.m. when the plane immediately crashed

'She was at all times filled with concepts that had remodeled into profitable endeavours, after which executing that with success, successful over individuals as she went alongside,' Van der Walt stated of her late good friend and co-host.

'She may find time for individuals from each stroll of life, and that was her precedence.'

A heartfelt tribute to Steffens was shared by the channel in a press release on its Fb page .

'Relaxation in peace, Mynie Steffens. You had been adventurous till the top. With #SpeelMetVuur you confirmed us all the right way to strategy life with curiosity and bravado. Sleep properly,' the message learn in Afrikaans, translated roughly into English.