By Noelene Barbeau, Xolani Mbanjwa, Roy Barford, Hlengiwe Khumalo and Brian Spurr
A daredevil aerobatic display went horribly wrong when two experienced pilots plummeted to their deaths at the Vereeniging Airshow on Saturday.
One of the men was South Africa's first black aerobatic pilot and the son of Gabriel Ndabandaba, provincial agriculture and environmental affairs MEC.
According to an eyewitness, a few minutes into the popular Sasol Tigers' aerobatics routine, the fourth plane left the formation.
"It looked like the pilot was trying to turn away from the formation and the crowd. Soon after, the aircraft plummeted to the ground, resulting in a major fireball.
It landed about 500m away from the crowd. There was no way the two pilots could have survived that impact."
Neil de Lange, flight director at the Vereeniging Airshow, confirmed that both pilots - Gabriel Ndabandaba junior, 26, and Johnny Hattingh, who was in his mid-40s - died when their L29 jet fell to the ground.
Ndabandaba joined the South African Air Force's Silver Falcons team in 1997 and two years later began training as a pilot instructor at Langebaan.
In January, he piloted the helicopter that rescued his father who was stranded for two days in the Drakensberg. He also flew solo over the Union Buildings in Pretoria last year during President Thabo Mbeki's second inauguration.
Other than his love for flying, Ndabandaba was also passionate about chess, listening to classical music and serving as a boxing instructor.
Hattingh, known as Johnny Jet, obtained his pilot's licence in 1994. According to the Sasol Tigers' website, the team's flying enthusiast bought an L29 Jet with only 700 flying hours.
He then completed his conversion to the type after 50 hours of training and has already flown the L29 in a number of airshows as a solo ferry pilot.
"Johnny was living proof of the motto 'If you can dream it, you can do'," says the website.
De Lange said that emergency rescue services at Vereeniging airfield immediately responded and extinguished the flames. Police were also on hand.
"My team and I suspended the airshow before deciding to close the airfield," said De Lange.
Sasol Tigers' formation leader Ralph Dominick was too distraught to speak to the media. He handed his cellphone to Brian Zeederberg, a safety officer for Airshow South Africa.
"Both Gabriel and Johnny were very experienced pilots who have been with Sasol Tigers from its inception," Zeederberg said. "The team is in a state of shock and grieving for their pilots and friends.
"It's impossible at this stage to say whether it was a mechanical or pilot error. The Civil Aviation Authority has started investigating."
Gareth Stadler, who was part of the ER24 rescue team, said nothing could be done to save Ndabandaba and Hattingh because of the explosion.
"The jet exploded as soon as it hit the ground. Our team was on standby, but by the time we got there the plane had burnt out completely. The two pilots died from the impact because it was so severe," said Stadler.
In addition to being a member of the Sasol aerobatics team, Ndabandaba joined South African Airways in 2004, flying the A340 Airbus to foreign destinations.
"We are very saddened by the deaths and we, as SAA, would like to pass our condolences to their families," said spokesperson JJ Tabane.
Ndabandaba was to have flown to Dubai on Saturday night for SAA.
Speaking after attending the African National Congress National Executive Committee meeting in Johannesburg, KwaZulu-Natal Premier S'bu Ndebele said he was "devastated" by the news of Gabriel's death.
"Our hearts go out to a young person who only had the sky as his limit. He was an inspiration to all of us in the legislature, regardless of whichever political party you come from. Everyone, especially his father, used him as a shining example at every opportunity we got, because he showed our youth that you can become anything you put your mind to," said Ndebele.
The pilots' colleagues at the airfield were too devastated to speak on Saturday.
"I can't comment ... my relationship with the two pilots goes back a long way. We at Sasol Tigers are still in a state of shock. We have too much on our minds," was all Pano Nicolopulos, the Tigers' sponsorship manager, could say.
The spokesperson for MEC Gabriel Ndabandaba, Vusi Zuma, said the family was shocked and distraught.
"We at the department also knew Gabriel junior very well. To us the two men were as close as brothers and even had nicknames for each other."
Zuma said on Friday the MEC had flown to Johannesburg to visit his son.
"They went out together in Centurion and had supper at a restaurant until very late on Friday night. The MEC then flew back to Durban on Saturday to prepare for a trip to France."
Zuma said the Ndabandaba family would announce funeral arrangements at a later stage.