Johannesburg - A man was killed when he was hit by a gyrocopter making an emergency landing at the Vaal Marina in Vereeniging on Sunday, paramedics said.
Netcare 911 paramedics responded just after noon to reports of an aircraft crash on the shore of the Vaal Marina next to the R54 in Gauteng, Netcare 911 spokesman Shawn Herbst said.
"Reports from the scene indicate that a gyrocopter collided with an elderly male believed to be in his 70s while trying to perform an emergency landing. The patient was assessed on [the] scene by a Netcare 911 emergency care practitioner and found to have no signs of life and declared deceased on the scene."
The circumstances leading up to the incident were unknown, but police were on the scene and had secured the area for South African Civil Aviation Authority investigators, Herbst said.
In another statement, ER24 spokesman Werner Vermaak said the man was killed by a gyrocopter at the Vaal Marina in Vereeniging.
"Paramedics from ER24, Midvaal fire, and other EMS arrived on the scene where they found an elderly man [who] was apparently killed by a gyrocopter. Sadly, due to his extensive injuries, there was nothing that could be done for him and he was declared dead on the scene.
"It is understood from bystanders that members of a family scattered ashes of a loved one from the gyrocopter when it allegedly made an emergency landing on the bank. Other members were standing on the bank at the time. The elderly man was apparently struck by its blades as it made the emergency landing," Vermaak said.