A Bloemfontein pilot who lost feeling on the left side of his body during a flight but managed to land safely, was declared brain dead on Tuesday.
Beeld newspaper reported that Danie Minnie, 43, was flying from Joburg to Bloemfontein on Sunday when he started feeling partly paralysed.
He nevertheless safely landed the jet aircraft he was flying in Bloemfontein.
Minnie then called Bloemfontein businessman Marius Eksteen, who he had been commissioned to fetch from Rand Airport, to tell him he had no feeling on his left side.
Esmarie Cronje, spokeswoman for the Rosepark Hospital in Bloemfontein, said that neurologist Dan Hugo treated Minnie and diagnosed an aneurysm.
Minnie was declared brain dead around 10pm on Tuesday night.
Hugo said aneurysms – when a portion of a blood vessel balloons and bursts – was not common among pilots.
Free State pilot Joggie Prinsloo described Minnie as one of South Africa's most experienced pilots. – Sapa