Couple Left Dangling After Plane Strikes Zip Line | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-07.07.25

Airborne-NextGen-07.08.25

AirborneUnlimited-06.25.25

Airborne-AffordableFlyers-06.26.25

AirborneUnlimited-06.27.25

Tue, Oct 02, 2018

Couple Left Dangling After Plane Strikes Zip Line

Ultralight Aircraft Had Been On A Mission To Track Rhino Poachers In South Africa

A couple in their 60s were left dangling some 330 feet in the air after the ultralight airplane they were flying on their anti-rhino poaching patrol in South Africa impacted a zip line and got tangled up in the thrill ride's wire.

The U.K. newspaper The Daily Mail reports that the wire became entangled with a bolt just under the propeller of the Bat Hawk airplane. That left the husband and wife, identified only by their first names Peter and Mary, hanging from the wire in what was described as a "rocket launch" position.

The zip line is part of a theme park and runs through a wilderness area of the Pilanesberg National Park. Riders can reach speeds of up to 100 miles per hour on the attraction. But the dangling airplane was rocking in the wind with temperatures climbing as high as 86 degrees for several hours, according to the report.

 The pair was rescued by Rob Thomas. He climbed down the zip line and was able to extract the couple from the airplane.
 
 The Bat Hawk is used by many game preserves for anti-poaching efforts because of its ability to fly very slowly and quietly. It can take off and land in as little as 90 feet.
 
"Our Bat Hawk, named Mafolodi, flew into the Sun City zip line and the pilot Peter and his wife Mary were rescued and were not injured," said a spokesman for the Pilanesberg National Park. "They were just very very scared. Now they are safe we will rescue Mofalodi."

The pilot of a Bell Jet Ranger 206 was fatally injured in 2011 when he impacted the same zip line while traveling to pick up some friends on a farm near Sun City, according to the report.

(Image posted to Facebook by Mountain Club of SA - Search And Rescue)

FMI: Original report

Advertisement

More News

NTSB Prelim: Piper PA-23

Pilot Also Reported That Due To A Fuel Leak, The Auxiliary Fuel Tanks Were Not Used On June 4, 2025, at 13:41 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-23, N2109P, was substantially damage>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: One Man’s Vietnam

From 2023 (YouTube Edition): Reflections on War’s Collective Lessons and Cyclical Nature The exigencies of war ought be colorblind. Inane social-constructs the likes of racis>[...]

NTSB Final Report: Capella Aircraft Corp FW1C50

Pilot Reported That He Was Unfamiliar With The Single Seat Amateur-Built Airplane And His Intent Was To Perform High-Speed Taxi Testing Analysis: The pilot reported that he was unf>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: Timber Tiger Touts Curtiss Jenny Replicas

From 2023 (YouTube Edition): First Kits to Ship October 2023 Having formerly resurrected the storied shape of the Ryan ST—in effigy, anyway—Montrose, Colorado-based Tim>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (07.04.25): Performance-Based Navigation (PBN) [ICAO]

Performance-Based Navigation (PBN) [ICAO] Area navigation based on performance requirements for aircraft operating along an ATS route, on an instrument approach procedure or in a d>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC