Cause of Death: |
Died in Motor Cycle Accident, after he crashed his motorcycle into a fixed-wing aircraft. Major Andre Hattingh, an Oryx pilot, was riding to work Ysterplaat Air Force base on his motorcycle on Thursday morning. He apparently saw two vehicle lights approaching and thought it was a car, but it was the lights of a tractor towing a Dakota aircraft from the hangar to the runway. Hattingh veered to the left, but crashed into the tail wing of the aircraft and his motorcycle slid to one side. He was airlifted to 2 Military Hospital in Wynberg, where he was admitted with broken ribs and a broken nose. An emergency operation was carried out, but because Hattingh's chest was severely injured, he lost a vast quantity of blood. His heart apparently stopped during surgery, but doctors managed to resuscitate him. His condition worsened later and he died of internal bleeding |
Additional
Information: |
Husband of Annelien Hattingh and father of sons Joe (23), Koos (21) and Andre (18). Joe, the eldest, was also a SAAF helicopter pilot, based at AFB Bloemspruit. The youngest son, Andre, was in Matric at Hoerskool Tygerberg. Maj. Hattingh took part in the rescue operation when the Ikan Tanda sank off the coast of Scarborough in Sept 2001. Eighteen lives were saved. He also took part in rescue operations in Mozambique and Lesotho, and in 2000 helped fight large fires in the Cape Peninsula. He had been to Antartica as well. His funeral was held at the AGS Church in Goodwood, Cape Town, followed by cremation. Maj. Hattingh lived in Welgemoed and was awarded the Honorus Crux and the Air Force Cross. He joined the SAAF in 1973. Brother: Hennie Hattingh. In 2007 Annelien (then married to Mr. Crafford and living in Pretoria) sued the SAAF for R4-million. Mr. Crafford was the chaplain at Maj. Hattingh's funeral. His wife had died of a stroke three months prior. Later that year, Maj. Hattingh was posthumously awarded the Ad Astra medal for a rescue operation in 2001 |
