Cape Town - A helicopter pilot of the South African Air Force has died after he crashed his motorcycle into a fixed-wing aircraft.
Major André Hattingh, 48, an Oryx pilot, was riding to work Ysterplaat Air Force base on his motorcycle on Thursday morning.
He apparently saw two vehicle lights approaching and thought it was a car, but it was the lights of a tractor towing a Dakota aircraft from the hangar to the runway.
Hattingh veered to the left, but crashed into the tail wing of the aircraft and his motorcycle slid to one side.
He was airlifted to 2 Military Hospital in Wynberg, where he was admitted with broken ribs and a broken nose.
An emergency operation was carried out, but because Hattingh's chest was severely injured, he lost a vast quantity of blood. His heart apparently stopped during surgery, but doctors managed to resuscitate him.
His condition worsened later and he died on Friday morning because of internal bleeding.
Hattingh is survived by his wife, Annelien and three sons, Joe, Koos and André.
Joe, the eldest, is also an Air Force pilot and is stationed at the Bloemspruit Air Force base, where he's being trained as an Oryx helicopter pilot.