“I’M not happy with the decision taken by Airlink not to fly over the FNB Stadium this Saturday, in Soweto, nogal,” says the dejected Helen Nhlapo, who has vowed will be at the game with her family.
Helen is part of throngs of crazy rugby fans who will see RWC Springboks take on All Blacks at FNB Stadium on Saturday afternoon, and according to captain Siya Kolisi ‘will be the first time playing at the stadium’.
Kick-off 17:10.
The third flyover by Airlink since the beginning of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Test series was scrapped this week following the withdrawal of application by the airline.
This follows last Saturday’s flyover of two Airlink Embraer jets at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town, which very few were unimpressed with the spectacular, citing it was close to the roof.
In comes the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) that confirmed on Wednesday, Airlink had withdrawn its application for the third flypast planned around at FNB Stadium.
According to SACAA, the decision comes while it continues its assessment of the 29 August flypast in Cape Town.
The regulator said it has obtained flight-data recorder downloads from Airlink and requested additional information as part of its compliance assessment.
SACAA says a full report, including recommendations, will be provided to Airlink once the assessment is complete. And, frankly, there is quite a lot to assess.
According to Associated Press from Flightradar24, the aircraft passed approximately 12.5 to 14 metres above the stadium roof at their lowest point. The figures prompted an international debate about the safety margins involved in putting passenger jets that close to a packed stadium.
Airlink has defended the operation, saying the flypast was carefully planned and rehearsed, with safety its “first consideration”.
According to Airlink, each aeroplane had three senior captains on board, and the crews had more than 75,000 combined flight hours.
The airline also said the aeroplanes were not carrying passengers and that the operation had been conducted with the guidance and support of the relevant aviation authorities.
The regulator said Airlink had submitted the necessary application and supporting documentation, while a simulator practice flight and safety briefing had been completed before the operation.
SACAA had approved the flypast under the requirements governing Special Air Events.
The aviation body says safety and security compliance remains non-negotiable and that it needs to interrogate what happened during last weekend’s operation before reaching a final position.
Airlink also cited unfavourable weather forecasts when withdrawing the FNB Stadium application, but the authority confirmed the withdrawal while its assessment of the Cape Town operation continues.
The Cape Town flight was the second of three flypast applications submitted by Airlink for the rugby series.
The first took place in Johannesburg on 22 August.
In all major Boks games held at the FNB Stadium, there have been flypast, but this time fans will not experience the spectacular low level formation flight over.
But thousands of rugby fans, including Helen and family, whom some will be attending rugby match for the very first time, will be ‘rallying behind our Bokke -with or without the flypast’, with one angry fan declaring “actually SACCA can keep their Airlink.”
Boks beat NZ 33-26 in Cape Town to level the four-Test series at one-all, meaning the FNB Stadium match is therefore an all-important third Test, with the fourth scheduled for Baltimore on 12 September.
Image provided (DHL Stadium in Cape Town had its cake; yet no spectacular flypast by Airlink will happen at FNB Stadium on Saturday.)
