A small plane of South Africa crashed early Friday northwest of Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province, according to the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China.

On board was a South African pilot, said the sources.

The plane, an Aquilla, took off at about 10:35 am Friday from Guilin, a scenic city in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, to Changsha, said the sources.

The bad weather in Changsha forced the plane to divert for a landing in Wuhan, capital of neighboring Hubei Province, but it crashed when it was on the route to Wuhan.

(Xinhua News Agency May 28, 2004)