South African regional carrier Airlink has defended a low-altitude formation flyover conducted Saturday over Cape Town’s DHL Stadium before a rugby match between South Africa and New Zealand. The flyover used an Embraer E195 and E190 painted in the teams’ colors and followed a similar Airlink formation pass over Ellis Park in Johannesburg one week earlier.
The airline said the South African Civil Aviation Authority and Air Traffic Navigation Services provided guidance and approval for the flight. Each aircraft carried three senior captains, the airline said.
“Airlink notes the concerns expressed in various social media and online forums regarding yesterday’s formation flyby over Cape Town’s DHL Stadium,” the airline said. “The flight demanded careful planning and rehearsal, as it required navigating at low altitude at around 150 knots. The South African Civil Aviation Authority and Air Traffic Navigation Services provided valuable guidance, approval and support to ensure a safe flyby.”
The airline said recorded flight data showed the aircraft remained within the altitude and speed limits approved and rehearsed for the flyover.
Flightradar24 calculated that the lead aircraft passed about 41 to 46 feet above the 164-foot stadium roof after correcting its ADS-B altitude for local atmospheric pressure. Airlink has not publicly disclosed the minimum altitude authorized by SACAA for the flight.
The Embraers‘ low clearance prompted criticism over the margins available in the event of an unexpected issue while passing above a stadium containing about 56,000 spectators. Airlink has since provided flight-recorder data to SACAA for an independent review of whether the flyover complied with its authorization.
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