VIDEO: Community praise dead pilot for limiting toll
The pilot of the light plane which crashed in Wattville this morning (February 3), was praised by several eyewitnesses for crash-landing in an empty park.
Despite their view that the pilot (in his 50s) saved many lives, the community members who had gathered around the crash site were shocked that three people had died.
Two of the deceased were reported to be a couple (in their 60s), on their way to a golf resort in Limpopo.
All three people on-board the plane died in the crash.
Two of the victims are from Austria, and not Australia, as police previously stated.
Puseletso Mohoto said he saw a big blue flame and saw the aircraft hit a street light and crash next to a tree in the park.
“It was huge, like lightning,” Mohoto said as he described the flame.
“Everybody was running with water buckets, throwing water in the plane,” said Mohoto.
“When the flames went out, some guys tried to pull them (the victims) out.”
He said community members responded immediately when they heard the bang.
Eyewitnesses said they heard two explosions, one while the plane was in the air and one as it crash-landed.
According to the witnesses, after the plane had rolled, the fire burned for about 15 minutes but was suppressed by community members bringing buckets of water, as well as police with fire extinguishers.
Mohoto is traumatised by what he saw.
“Seeing people burn alive is very traumatic,” Mohoto added.
“The pilot was a hero because he saved many lives.
“If he did not move away from the houses more people would have died.”
Mohoto added that he was relieved the school term has already started, as kids might have been playing in the park otherwise.
Bongani Mkhabela also hailed the pilot as a hero for avoiding the road, which was occupied by several vehicles at the time, including his taxi.
Mkhabela was headed down Sesedi Street, when he saw the plane fly towards him.
“I pulled to the side of the road, to avoid the plane crashing into my taxi,” Mkhabela said.
“The pilot did a nice job, going into the field instead of the road or houses.”
The cause of the crash was still under investigation by authorities at the time of publication.
Read more here: Mayor sends condolences to the families of the plane crash victims
WATCH:
VIDEO: PUSELETSO MOHOTO
This video has been edited to exclude potentially harmful content, due to its graphic nature.
