A South African air ace kept his cool when his aircraft broke up at the start of a stunt flying sequence, parachuting to safety over France.
Nigel Hopkins, the reigning South African National and Unlimited Aerobatic Champion and a well known face at Durban air shows, had to bail out of his MX2 stunt plane in mid-air when he noticed something was wrong on Sunday.
The Pretoria resident, a South African Airways flight captain and SAA training captain, was in France for the 28th French Aeronautical Federation World Aerobatic championship.
The cream of the world’s aerobatic pilots gather in Châteauroux, in the central region of France, for the competition from August 20 to 29.
Hopkins, 42, posted a message on his Facebook page letting everyone know he was safe.
“Thanks so much for all the support, it’s overwhelming. Mixed emotions right now. Many asking questions, until we have more info basically my aircraft broke in flight at the start of an aerobatic sequence and I managed to bail out and parachute safely,” he wrote.
http://www.iol.co.za/dailynews/news/sa-air-ace-jumps-from-plunging-plane-1.1901743#.VdOGsLKqqkp
http://imgur.com/a/0YBXT
http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=178764
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