8 July 1981, Lt Adriano Bomba, decides to defect to South Africa in his ageing Mozambican Mig 17 (serial number 21) and is intercepted and escorted by two SAAF F1AZ Mirage fighter jets from Hoedspruit.

The Mozambique government asked for their Mig fighter jet to be given back, and once it was inspected the South African Air Force it was handed over to a delegation from Maputo who dismantled it by cutting off the wings and took it back by land.

The clandestine disappearance and death of Lt Bomba and that of his brother remain shrouded in controversy and secret. Both casualties in the ‘total onslaught’ policies of the time