By Irene Kuppa And Barbara Cole
A pensioner, whose house was demolished by a light aircraft on Sunday, on Monday visited the family of the Austrian tourists who were trapped in the wreckage of his home in Danville Avenue, Durban North.
"I feel sorry for them, which is why I came to see them in hospital," home owner Alwyn Field said.
Pilot Alistair Freeman and the Huber family all miraculously survived the dramatic crash.
Field was fortunately not in his house at the time of the accident. He had decided to spend the afternoon at the Parkhill Bowling Club instead of watching television. The plane smashed into his lounge, dining room and kitchen.
Gerald Huber, 45, his wife Monika, 48, their son, 10, and daughter, 12, as well as Monika's sister, 38, were in the plane when it crashed.
Field said that he had seen Monika Huber in shock at the scene of the accident. "She still looks as if she is in a state of shock," he said after visiting the family at Umhlanga Hospital.
Speaking about his near miss, he said: "I was shocked, but later realised that if I hadn't gone out to the Parkhill Bowling Club to see some friends, I might have been sitting in my lounge when the plane went through the roof and I might have been killed," said the 72-year-old retired plumber.
Field, who lost his wife, Jean, last year, has now lost his home and was last night staying with a neighbour.
The twin-engined Britten-Norman Islander plane nose-dived into his lounge, dining room and kitchen. This morning Field said that insurance assessors were visiting his demolished house.
Gerald Huber has a dislocated hip and is in traction. The family were reluctant to talk about the accident.
They were due to fly back home on Friday but hospital sources said that would not be possible now as Gerald would probably still be in hospital.
An Umhlanga hospital spokesperson said the rest of the family have cuts and lacerations and the mother and daughter are wearing neck braces.
Amazingly, despite the extensive damage to Field's home, his television was still working and some pictures still hung on the walls.
While emergency services converged on his home to free the Austrian holidaymakers - and to cut out the trapped Freeman and one of the passengers with the jaws-of-life - neighbours and well-wishers rallied to console the shaken Field.
Later, as the shock eased and neighbours gave him a beer, he relaxed and even managed to grin at the odd turn of events.
When Field tried to get into his home to recover important papers, photographs and jewellery, he was moved away for his own safety.
Fuel had leaked into the demolished house, and there was a possibility it might ignite, he was told.
The minister of transport, community safety and Liaison, Bheki Cele, also arrived, and after watching the emergency services in action, donned a hard hat and went into the wrecked house.
Meanwhile, Field's daughter, Bev van der Westhuizen, said the police had found a man trying to steal from her father's house when they arrived and had arrested him.
The aircraft was ferrying the tourists from a holiday resort on the North Coast to nearby Virginia Airport and was just 300m and 20 seconds away from its destination when disaster struck.
Witness John Barry said he saw the plane come in low over the houses and heard the aircraft spluttering "like a beach buggy". Then it went down into Field's roof.
Virginia Airport Traffic Control notified the Civil Aviation Authority and investigators flew down from Johannesburg. They were on the scene today to determine the cause of the accident.
The 38-year-old Johannesburg pilot was conscious throughout his ordeal and told paramedics that the plane had lost power. It took the police Search and Rescue Unit, assisted by other emergency workers, 90 minutes to cut him free from the cockpit.
Freeman has multiple fractures, including broken bones in his lower legs. His jaw was also slashed.
He was airlifted to St Augustine's Hospital, where he is in a serious but stable condition.
Freeman's father and brother-in-law, who were due to fly back to Johannesburg in the plane with him, were at his hospital bedside.
A hospital source said: "They are being kept together to give each other support. The mother is the only one who speaks English and it's difficult for us to communicate with them."
Danville Avenue was still cordoned off on Monday morning as investigators carried out their work.
The plane will probably not be lifted out today, said Darrel Mann, who is in charge of the recovery operation.
"We've got a real problem with wind. We don't want the wings flapping around in the wind as there are electricity cables in the area."
The plane will probably be moved on Tuesday, he said.
- A pilot flying a single-engine Cessna 182 was forced to make an emergency landing at Virginia Airport on Thursday last week after the engine cut out after taking off just 50m above the runway.
The accident, which damaged the plane, is also being investigated.