Johannesburg - The craving for fried chicken hit an Eastern Cape police officer so hard that he landed a work helicopter at a KFC outlet.

The SAPS pilot landed the helicopter at the Queenstown KFC, apparently to buy a meal.

The pictures of the landing went viral on social media last week and showed the pilot, who has not been identified, landing the SAPS chopper at Komani Mall on Tuesday afternoon, and walking into the KFC to order a meal. After getting his food, he walked back to the helicopter and flew away.

National police spokesperson Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo confirmed they were investigating the landing and said it was an internal police matter.

As to be expected, many social users had a field day after hearing about the news such as @miss_andisa who tweeted: "More proof that fast food joints need a "fly thru".