The pilot killed when his light aircraft crashed into a block of flats in Yeoville, central Johannesburg, was from Botswana, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said on Tuesday.
Preliminary investigations indicated that bad weather was behind the accident.
He was en route from the Lanseria International Airport, northern Johannesburg, to the Rand Airport, on the East Rand, at the time, said CAA spokesperson Phindiwe Gwebu.
Most of the mangled wreckage of the plane, believed to be a Piper Cherokee 140, lay against the parking garage of the Bobby Locke block of flats on the corner of Hendon and Harley streets.
A second floor window was knocked out by the accident.
”Everything started shaking and we saw the plane coming toward us. We just lay down,” said caretaker William Monyamane.
Security guard Geudes Ndaba said there was strong lightning and the external passageway was full of water. ”We couldn’t run because we thought we would slip.” They were not injured.
Lungile Khumalo (22) was sleeping in his flat when the aircraft hit his bedroom. ”I tried to scream but just grabbed my phone and keys and ran.”
He sprained his arm and injured his leg but escaped with his life. ”I just thank God,” said Khumalo after being treated by paramedics.
CAA spokesperson Phindiwe Gwebu said an investigation involving the Air Traffic Navigation Services and meteorologists was under way but that investigations ”do drag”.
Gwebu said the CAA still has very little information about the circumstances of the crash. She said the pilot was in South Africa for pilot training. – Sapa