Five people miraculously survive after plane slams into ute near Johannesburg
By staff writers
NEWS.com.au
June 12, 2009 11:20am
- Plane slams into 4WD ute
Amazingly, nobody was killed
Photos show plane came off worse
FIVE PEOPLE are lucky to be alive after a freak head-on crash involving a plane and a four-wheel-drive ute.
The light aircraft had just taken off from a South African runway when it plunged down towards a secluded road near Krugersdorp Airport, west of Johannesburg.
The Ford ute, carrying three people, was travelling in the opposite direction when the two-seater Piper Cherokee ploughed into it before bursting into flames, South African newspaper The Times reports.
Amazingly, no one was killed in the crash.
Pictures from the scene show the Piper demolished and burning, while only the engine bay of the ute appeared to be damaged.
Pilot John Thompson and George Carney, who trapped inside the burning aircraft for some time, were taken to hospital. They both were recovering from "serious" injuries, Mr Thompson's son told The Times.
Tony van Aswegen, who was sitting in the back of the ute, was thrown onto the road but escaped injury.
Monica Braganca and Anna Vaulina, who were inside the vehicle, were treated for shock at the scene.
Ms Vaulina, who watched the plane dive down towards the ute, reportedly said she thought she was done for.
"I was thinking we were going to die, not one ounce of me thought I was going to survive. It felt like in a movie," she said.
"I couldn't say anything, no one was screaming. I just thought it was the end, I'd never be lucky enough to escape it.
"The scary part was seeing the faces of the pilots looking straight at us."
Ms Braganca, who was driving the ute, said she was lucky that the vehicle was sturdy.
"We saw the plane coming down, I honestly didn’t think it would crash and it would pull up," she said.
"When it hit the ground, I just closed my eyes and kept my foot on the brakes and braced myself. We pretty much saw it coming."
The crash happened on Sunday afternoon.
