911 landing on N1South

“We thought the airplane was going to crash into us! It must have missed our car’s roof by centimetres and landed right behind us on the N1.”

Grace Jacobs, Laerskool Pietersburg-Noord’s choir director, recalled her close shave with death when a light aircraft, a Piper Cherokee, had to make an emergency landing on the N1 South just outside Polokwane on Sunday afternoon. The passengers were a couple from Krugersdorp and their pilot.

Jacobs said she and a colleague were on their way back from Pretoria to Polokwane when they saw the light aircraft taking off at the airfield at a nearby resort. She said she was just telling her colleague, Yvette de Wet, that she hoped the pilot had seen the power lines, because he was flying at a low altitude, when she realised the aircraft was having trouble – and coming straight at them.

“It was a miracle the airplane did not crash into a car, because the road was very busy with weekend traffic.

There was just a small gap in the traffic, where it landed. We immediately stopped our car and ran to the aircraft.

The three people inside, the young pilot and the couple, were not injured. I immediately prayed, giving thanks to the Lord for saving our lives. I only remember the woman’s name was Petro,” Jacobs further said of her experience.

According to the roads and transport department, traffic officials were able to clear a part of the road and redirect the traffic soon after the emergency landing. The aircraft, accompanied by several traffic vehicles, was taken to the Polokwane International Airport on the back of a large truck.

Civil Aircraft Association spokesperson, Phindi Gwebu was not available for comment on the incident due to him being in meetings yesterday (Monday) at the time of going to print.

In another incident over the weekend, an aircraft also was involved in an emergency landing near Bela Bela. Roads and transport MEC, Lehlogonolo Masoga said he was concerned about the two incidents and called on civil aviation authorities to do the necessary investigations and advise government on what to do.