Two passenger jets left spectators fearing for their lives after swooping terrifyingly close to the roof of a packed stadium in Cape Town on Saturday.
The pair of Airlink Embraer 190 commercial aircraft performed a low-altitude flyover of the 55,000-capacity DHL Stadium just moments before kick-off in the second Test between South Africa’s Springboks and the New Zealand All Blacks.
Rather than the military jets typically associated with such displays, fans were confronted by two full-sized passenger planes hurtling towards them at breathtaking proximity.
Data from Flightradar subsequently revealed the aircraft had cleared the stadium roof by a mere 12 metres, with footage broadcast on national television and rapidly going viral on social media.
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Flight-tracking service Flightradar24 recorded the lowest barometric reading of the lead aircraft at just 50 feet under standard pressure.
Once corrected for local conditions, that figure equated to approximately 205 to 210 feet above sea level, and with the stadium standing roughly 164 feet tall, the estimated clearance between jet and rooftop was somewhere between 41 and 46 feet.
The two Embraer jets were travelling at around 120 knots, equivalent to roughly 131mph, as they thundered over the venue.
The lead aircraft, registered as ZS-YAE, had been painted in an all-green livery in tribute to the Springboks.
The reaction online was swift and damning. Aviation expert Michael Glynn wrote: “There’s low flyovers and then there’s this. Whoa boy.”
Sports reporter Matt Wright posted: “What is it with South Africa and dangerously low flyovers!?”
“Someone will and should be fired for that, an almost unimaginable disaster,” added one user, Mike Buckley.
Another, Craig Walters, declared: “This is just mental. Someone is in trouble.”
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One viewer said it “looked even worse on live TV” and that they had genuinely believed they were “about to witness a disaster live.”
Professional pilots also weighed in on the aviation forum PPRuNe, with many criticising the manoeuvre as unsafe given the packed crowd below.
Airlink defended the display, stating it had broken no regulations and was carried out under the direction of the South African Civil Aviation Authority and Air Traffic Services.
A spokesman for the airline said extensive preparation and practice runs had preceded the event, with flight data confirming the aircraft remained within approved altitude and speed limits throughout.
The carrier also noted that camera angles can make aircraft appear far closer to structures than they truly are, particularly when a jet changes pitch.
Low-altitude flypasts have a deep-rooted tradition in South African sport, most famously at the 1995 Rugby World Cup final when a South African Airways Boeing 747 soared over Ellis Park in Johannesburg before the hosts faced New Zealand.
On the pitch, the Springboks triumphed 33-26 through tries from Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende and captain Siya Kolisi, levelling the four-Test series at 1-1 ahead of the third match in Soweto on September 5.
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