Pilot error led to fatal Cronje plane crash, says SA judge by CricketArchive staff reporter

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Player:

WJ Cronje

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DateLine: 15th August 2006

 

A South African judge on Monday ruled that pilot negligence led to a 2002 plane crash which killed cricketing icon Hansie Cronje, whose career ended after a match-fixing scandal.

 

The two pilots who also perished in the crash failed to follow procedures for a “missed landing approach”, Cape Town high court judge Siraj Desai said at the conclusion of an inquest into the crash.

 

“The complacency of the pilot in command was surprising and the co-pilot failed under the circumstances to do what a reasonable pilot would have done,” Desai said.

 

Cronje, a former national cricket captain and sporting ambassador, died at the age of 32 when a light plane in which he was traveling crashed into mountains near the coastal town of George in bad weather on June 1, 2002.