Miracles as aircraft crash-land

03 January 2008 - 02:00
By unknown

Sipho Masombuka

Sipho Masombuka

Seven people escaped unscathed when two light aircrafts crash- landed at the Wonderboom Airport in Pretoria yesterday.

The first incident happened at about 11am when a pilot of an aircraft with two passengers opted to crash-land when one of its landing wheels failed to unfold.

City of Tshwane's director for transport Dennis Baloyi said the pilot was on routine training on the airport's runway.

"It was during this routine exercise that he realised that one of the wheels could not unfold.

"He then decided to crash-land. The plane landed on its bottom part and slid for about 250 metres before coming to a standstill."

The second incident happened over an hour later when a pilot contacted the airport reporting engine failure and requesting to make an emergency landing.

"The plane was carrying three people. The twin-engine light plane was also able to land safely with one engine," said Baloyi.