Identity
Person No.
29380
Old ROH no.
64
Service No.
01238484E
Last Name
First Name
Nico
Initials
N
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
30
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
AA 1,737
Aircraft accident
Cause of Death
Killed in aircraft accident, flew into Devils Peak, Cape Town, whilst taking part in a rehearsal for the 1971 Republic Day celebrations, in Hawker Siddeley HS125 Mercurious #02
Military Service
Branch
Air Force
Rank
Major
Regiment
Unit
Unknown
Defence Force
SADF 3,828
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
Locality
Grave Reference
Coordinates
Unit History
Notes
Husband of Mrs. H. G. A. C. Beetge. ref. 85 years of SAAF
Research notes
5 Sep 2026: Unit "24 Squadron" (a squadron, SAAF's regiment-equivalent) promoted to Regiment, per John's decision. Corps (South African Air Force) unchanged.
Citations
Unknown
External References
-
SADF.info Border Roll of Honour
open source ↗
SADF.info Border RoH
- South African War Graves Project open source ↗
-
The War in Angola
open source ↗
War In Angola Roll of Honour (warinangola.com, tabid=1175), page 7 of 143: confirmed, no changes.
Stories 3
Hi John, I am the son of Maj N Beetge. I would just like to correct some info that you have on him. He died in a plane crash in 1971 into Table Mountain. It was going to be the first time that the SAAF was going to show the public their new Murcurises plane (spelling unsure). According to the newspaper it was quite misty that day and they were about 4 km off course, they headed straight for the mountain which was discovered too late by the leading plane, as they pulled up they were too low to clear the summit and crashed just behind the Rhodes memorial. There were 11 people killed that day. We do have a book that my Aunt made with all the newspaper clips on the crash. His last unit was with 24 squadron at Pretoria.
Hi My name is Gerhardus Beetge I was born in 1971. this is quite a coincidence.
Hi Lourens, I hit on this " web site' by mistake. I was a SAAF Candidate Officer in 1963, & was on the same Flying Instructors course as your dad. He was then a 2nd Lt. There was also a third cadett that used to fly with us, & he was JJ le Roux, who was killed in a Harvard crash in the mid 1960`s.,/p> In 1966, I left the SAAF, & joined SAA where I flew till retirement in Nov 2004. I attended one of the funerals from that illfated crash. That was George Euverard. Did you do any flying after you left school? Garth Liggett PP course 1962.
Dedications
No dedications have been added yet.