A Klerksdorp man escaped with minor injuries when the plane he was flying hit a fence at a farm neighbouring the Brits Flying Club, crashed into a thicket of trees and burst into flames.
The pilot, 40, escaped before the plane was engulfed by flames and razed to ashes at about noon on Monday.
An eyewitness, who did not wish to be named, said the Ovation 2 aircraft had just landed and was cruising along the tarmac when the pilot hesitated and stopped as he approached the threshold.
“He had landed and was cruising down to the other side when he probably thought he wouldn’t make it and then started going forward,” said the eyewitness.
As they watched they saw the plane prepare to take off again.
“He opened the throttle and started to fly, and the next thing we saw the plane go through the fence and burst into flames,” he added.
From the markings on the ground it was clear that the plane had not taken off, he said.
“He didn’t take off at all. We just don’t know what happened.”
The farmer next door had seen the pilot come out of the burning plane and described what he saw as the man “popping out” of the flames.
Paramedics arrived soon thereafter and rushed the pilot, Michael Pace, to the Brits Medi-Clinic with burns to the side of his face and hand.
He was on a business trip.
“When we got there he was just walking around and looking for his cellphone, which he did not find,” Hartbeespoort emergency rescue unit marketing officer Loanne Louw said.
“He suffered partial burn wounds to the face and left hand for which he was treated.
“Because he was in a lot of pain he was also given painkillers and put on a drip as a precaution.
“He was lucky to walk out of those flames with the burns he did, given the amount of flames we found when we got there.”
l In another aviation incident a Cessna flew into the Magalies mountain range close to the Hartbeespoort Dam last Saturday, killing its two occupants.
A police helicopter assisted members of the Hartbeespoort emergency rescue unit with the recovery of their remains.
The South African Civil Aviation Authority started an investigation into the accident on Monday afternoon.
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