South African aviation authority reviews low‑altitude Airlink flyover before rugby match

A low-altitude flyover by two Airlink passenger jets before a rugby match at Cape Town Stadium is being reviewed by South African aviation authorities after it drew safety concerns, officials say.

The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) said it had obtained flight data recordings and requested additional information from regional carrier Airlink as part of its assessment. A full report with recommendations will be issued once the review is complete.

"It is therefore critical that we interrogate this past weekend's events … to determine if there were any safety concerns which warrant a review," the agency said in a statement.

Airlink has withdrawn plans for another flyover at the upcoming rugby match in Soweto, according to the SACAA, which regulates aviation safety and security.

The flyover ahead of the Springboks and All Blacks match on August 29 drew huge cheers from an estimated crowd of about 56,000, but it also sparked a debate over safety risks after video footage from spectators inside and around the stadium spread online.

Deandra Peters, 25, a pilot and aviation enthusiast attending her first live rugby match, said the spectacle electrified the crowd in the stadium in a way that was difficult to capture on video.

"You can watch the planes fly over, but you can't recreate what it felt like to be inside a stadium full of Springbok supporters absolutely losing their minds," she told The Associated Press.

"The atmosphere was electric — the noise, the pride, the emotion. It was a very uniquely South African moment."

Airlink on Wednesday said the manoeuvre had been carefully planned and rehearsed and that safety was "the first consideration at every stage of the process." It said each aircraft had three senior captains aboard, with more than 75,000 combined flight hours across the crews.

Earlier this week, Airlink had provided the data from the aeroplanes' black boxes to the civil aviation authority for review.

The SACAA said it would examine flight data to determine whether any safety concerns warranted a review.

The airline acknowledged the enthusiasm generated by the spectacle while also recognising what it described as the "valid questions and concerns" that followed.

"We never intended to become the news or upstage rugby's greatest rivalry," Airlink chief executive de Villiers Engelbrecht said in a statement.

The regulator said the airline had made applications for three flyovers. The most recent one in Cape Town was the second, while the first flyover took place in Johannesburg on August 22. Both were approved in line with the requirements for special air events.

Airlink has withdrawn its application for a flyover scheduled for September 1, over Johannesburg's Soccer City Stadium. The airline said forecast weather conditions were unfavourable for a safe formation flyby. SACAA confirmed that the application had been withdrawn.

South African rugby has a long tradition of stadium flybys at major matches, dating back to the 1995 Rugby World Cup final in Johannesburg, when a Boeing 747 swept over Ellis Park before the Springboks faced the All Blacks.

Last Saturday's flyby was unusually low and dramatic, drawing international attention, with some aviation experts later questioning whether the aircraft had left too little margin for error.