More details of the Mustang crash landing
Date: 9 May 2001
Col. Neil Thomas was participating in a fly-past of historic planes on Sunday 6 May 2001 to commemorate South African airmen killed in battle. The aircraft took off from Swartkops and overflew the nearby Air Force memorial.
When he came in to land at Swartkops the starboard wheel failed to drop down from the wing well. The undercarriage continued to malfunction and he was redirected to the Waterkloof Air Force Base because of better emergency facilities at the base.
Accompanied by a Harvard, Thomas circled the base for more than an hour to burn off additional fuel. He then aimed for the grassy verge next to the runway.
According to onlookers, the aircraft suffered minimal damage. Thomas and passenger was not hurt.
Pretoria News
