Sasol Tigers

Well, here is a couple of pictures of the Sasol Tigers of South Africa. They recently lost one more jet at Cape Town, the pilot, Martin Van Straten, died a tragic death.

Van Straten's Czech-manufactured L-29 Delfin two-seater plane crashed into the sea near the coast shortly after 16:00 after completion of a flying formation.
According to co-pilots, van Straten was an experienced pilot with more than 2 000 flying hours to his credit.
He obtained his private pilot's licence in 1980 and was a member of the national aerobatic team.

a Witness said he could not believe his eyes.

'Dived into the sea'

"I was in Beach Drive on my way to Table View."
"The Sasol Tigers and the Silver Falcons were practicing together."
He told Die Burger the formation was approaching from the sea.
"One of the Sasol Tiger planes suddenly broke away from the formation and dived into the sea.
"The aircraft broke into a thousand pieces and water splashed to about 50m above sea level."

Two other team members, Gabriel Ndabandaba and Johnny (Jet) Hattingh were killed on September 10 2005, when their L-29 Delfin flew into the ground during an air show at Vereeniging.

According to experts only three of these trainer jet aeroplanes were owned privately in South Africa.
It was the first time that Africa's biggest aeronautical and weapon show was held at the Ysterplaat Air Force base in Cape Town