A 47-year-old man was fatally injured when his microlight hit overhead cables and crashed outside Brits, near Pretoria, officials said on Monday.
The microlight came down in a field, 40km outside of Brits at 09:00, said ER24 spokesperson Vanessa Jackson.
Hartbeespoort rescue workers got to the scene to find the pilot with severe head, chest, and internal injuries and multiple broken bones.
He was airlifted to hospital, but was declared dead on arrival.
“The aircraft impacted wires,” said SA Civil Aviation Authority spokesperson Phindiwe Gwebu.
She said there was only one person on board and that the aircraft was “substantially damaged”. An investigator had been sent to the scene.
Jackson said it was not yet known where the pilot was coming from or going to.
Gwebu said it would not “cause any alarm” even if he had taken off from the same field as a microlight which had to make a forced landing two weeks ago and that a “normal investigation” would take place.
On September 12, two men were slightly injured when they had to land their microlight next to the N4, north of Pretoria, because of engine problems.
Microlight Association spokesperson Alex Rudd said the microlight had just taken off from the Kroon airfield, in Rosslyn.
He said the microlight toppled over during an emergency landing just after 09:00.
– SAPA