/ 21 July 1999

PILOT SURVIVES CRASH NEAR HOEDSPRUIT

AN SA Air Force jet pilot survived a low-level crash at a bombing range in the Northern Province on Wednesday morning by ejecting from his Mark Two Impala at 100 feet. Major Garry Loney of Hoedspruit airbase was practising at the Roodewal bombing range, 20km north of Pietersburg, and crashed as he was taking off. Loney suffered severe back injuries, a cut on his head, and a broken leg, and was taken to an army hospital in Pretoria for treatment, where he is in a stable condition.