Plane stunt causes alarm as aircraft pass metres above rugby stadium
Airlink said the stunt was carefully planned and stayed within approved safety limits, with six experienced captains aboard the two jets.
- On Saturday, August 29, 2026, two Airlink Embraer 190 passenger jets performed a low-altitude flyover at Cape Town Stadium, passing just 12m above the roof before a rugby match attended by around 56,000 people.
- Airlink, a sponsor of the South African rugby team, defended the maneuver on Sunday, insisting the flight was carefully planned and executed within approved safety limits for speed and altitude.
- Chris Martinus, president of Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association South Africa, warned that flying at such low altitudes leaves pilots with insufficient room to maneuver if an emergency occurs.
- South African officials, including Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson and Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie, backed the airline, praising the pilots' skill and defending the flyby as spectacular.
- The stunt highlighted a split between global aviation concerns and the domestic tradition of stadium flybys that dates back to the 1995 Rugby World Cup, despite international debates over safety risks.
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Airline Defends 'Uncomfortable' Flyover Above Packed Stadium
Onlookers are calling attention to the safety risk of flying two passenger jets just feet above a stadium, while at the same time applauding the skills of the pilots. Two Airlink jets screamed just above Cape Town's DHL Stadium ahead of Saturday's South Africa–New Zealand rugby match, with flight data...
Two passenger jets are thundering over a fully-occupied stadium in South Africa with a tiny safety distance. The airline is thrilled – the campaign is shaking its head internationally.
60,000 people are waiting for the rugby duel between South Africa and New Zealand, when two planes rush over the fully occupied stadium in an extreme low flight.
Two aircraft flew over a stadium in South Africa on Saturday, 29 August, during a rugby match between South Africa and New Zealand. One of the aircraft would have passed only a dozen metres from the highest part of the stadium, according to the South African air authorities. On social media, some Internet users praised the pilots' manoeuvre, and others described it as "dangerous". It is in fact an old tradition, born during the final of the 1995…
South African airline defends dramatic low-level flyby before Springboks-All Blacks test match in Cape Town
The flyby by two Embraer jets, operated by local airline Airlink, happened on Saturday before the second rugby union Test between South Africa and New Zealand in Cape Town.
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