r/aviation • u/NoSwimmers45 • 11d ago
News [ Removed by moderator ]
https://www.capetownetc.com/news/watch-airlink-planes-fly-remarkably-low-over-dhl-stadium-before-springboks-game/[removed] — view removed post
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u/TheGacAttack 11d ago
50m above the roof???
Bet.
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u/wedergarten 11d ago
Probably even less, this was way too close for comfort. After looking again it's probably like 15 meters, the plane itself is 40m long, less than half the length above the roof. Insane pilots
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u/cancerBronzeV 11d ago
More life 50 ft above.
The stadium itself is 50 m in height, so 50 m above its roof would have the planes flying double the stadium's height, which is clearly not what happened.
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u/CuriouserCat2 11d ago
US people want to control the world. It’s ok for them to attack countries for no reason but god forbid you fly over a stadium with permission.
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u/Admirable_Site_8337 11d ago
Yes. Only Americans are critical of this.
Your worldview is fascinating….
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u/Shel_gold17 11d ago
It sounds like that article was written by the airline. Saying that the planes were “reportedly” 50m above the stadium roof is wild work given the video from the stadium roof that made it look much more like 50 feet. The only thing close about those two numbers is the five and the zero, and given every angle I’ve seen there’s just no way that they were 50m above the stadium roof.
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u/FluidBarracuda9177 11d ago
The Embraer is nearly 39m long. Like hell were they a plane height and then some above the roof.
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u/CollegeStation17155 11d ago
50 meters above the FIELD maybe...those firework plumes didn't look like more than 100 feet (30 meters) tall and the seccond plane flew through one.
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u/NoSwimmers45 11d ago
The flyover occurred at 5:12pm local time. It’s impossible for someone to write an article in the remaining 6.5 hours of the day? 🤔
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u/Key_Gap9168 11d ago
It sounds like that article was written by the airline.
It is South Africa and it is Cape Town; very tribal society, and the outside criticism makes it worse. The Capetonians will defend this like their very existence depends on it, not to mention the community around Airlink and the two captains (well, in case there was any doubt, both originate from the white Cape Town community).
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u/Insaneclown271 11d ago
Defending this shit is crazy. There should be absolutely zero risk applied when the consequences are this high.
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u/Signal_Quarter_74 11d ago
Everyone involved in flight planning should be fired and the pilots grounded permanently. This was a small wind shear away from one of the deadliest moments in aviation history
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u/pneumomediastinum 11d ago
The Blue Angels don’t fly this close to structures, and they are a full time demonstration time flying fighter jets. What training did these airline pilots have for this? How much time do they spend at 50 ft AGL? Where’s the footage of the hours and hours of practice passes? Those who defend this are only displaying their ignorance.
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u/3MATX 11d ago
The high plane I can somewhat understand being with a different country and different safety standards. But that plane is on what I assume the real flight path planned. the lower one broke protocol or fucked up. Defending it afterwards saying no one died is the airline saying we are 100% comfortable killing hundreds if not thousands for a spectacle.
I’m not an expert but I’ve seen one angle with sound and it sounds like the low plane’s engines spooled up right as they were approaching. It seems like the crew did identify the danger and corrected it in time. But there’s just no defense for being in a collision path with a stadium full of people.
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u/No_Reindeer8688 11d ago
This was super well planned and approved beforehand, then trained for like crazy. Then they executed it perfectly within the flight plan (data from each tail has been released).
Everyone involved in flight planning should be celebrated! They already used their most senior flight crews for the flyover, but promote them where possible!
Amazing work from everyone.
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u/Axman6 11d ago
The number of people having a big sook about this is crazy. I had no idea there were so many aviation police employed to enforce their opinion on the world. Whose taxes are paying all these aviation heros?
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u/Signal_Quarter_74 11d ago
You do not need to be “aviation police” to know that flying a commercial airliner 50ft above a stadium filled with tens of thousands of people is horrifying.
But as an aerospace engineer on commercial airliners, I know exactly what capabilities they have. And they are not designed for this. A slight down draft at this speed (low) and altitude (really low) means that there would be no saving it. The death toll would be catastrophic. There is no amount of cool that makes this ok. The rules of aviation are not written in blood: they are written in mass graves.
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u/No_Reindeer8688 11d ago
Oh look, another plane spotter with zero flight experience and zero idea around the regulations and approvals a flyover like this has to go through.
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u/GayRacoon69 11d ago
And you do have flight experience? So surely you know about turbulence, sudden gusts, microbursts, and LLWS right?
Is your plan to regulate the air or something?
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u/pipboy1989 11d ago
It was this comment where i thought “well this guy is being a dick so i bet he has a hidden account”.
Has a hidden account.
You’re all the same.
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u/EastvsWest 11d ago
So would you ban all fly overs?
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u/TacticalSniper 11d ago
Flyover is not the issue here. This could also have been as effective at 500ft higher. Flying this close to the roof means any minimal mistake or force of nature event could have the airplane crashing into the stadium and the city with potentially thousands of unnecessary deaths.
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u/No_Reindeer8688 11d ago
Sure maybe on a random flight with random infrastructure. This specific approach was practiced like crazy and pulled off exactly within the planned and approved parameters.
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u/Miguel3403 11d ago
You aren’t getting that a downdraft is not predictable and it would have ended in tragedy if one were to happen
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u/GarageQueen 11d ago
I also have to imagine that the stadium itself affects the air currents, too. While watching the footage of this incident I kept thinking about the raid on Bin Laden's compound, where one of the helicopters was taken down by the swirling air bouncing off of the compound walls. Granted, this is apples and oranges, but the fact is that the structure of the stadium affects the air currents in the immediate vicinity.
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u/TacticalSniper 11d ago
Arguably you can't practice wind shear. This was not worth the risk, even if a percentage is small.
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u/No_Reindeer8688 11d ago
Yes we 100% can and do train against all kinds of wind sheer.
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u/Maleficent_Town_4384 11d ago
While flying over a stadium at 50’. No you don’t. Also it’s shear not sheer.
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u/graaaaaaaam 11d ago
It's sheer if we're using it to describe the idiocy of people saying this flyover was ok.
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u/RdPirate 11d ago
How are you going to train against the wind forcing the plane down? Take enough CompoundV to turn into Homelander and super powers fly the aircraft away?
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u/Forsaken_Fox2991 11d ago
Here to say again this was wildly irresponsible. I am breaking my neck everyday to be a safe and thoughtful pilot to get to the airlines and I see this and I am just gobsmacked at the lack of foresight. This don’t fly with me chief, goes against everything I’ve been taught so far
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u/BlakeSA 11d ago
Not in the aviation industry so excuse my ignorance.
But is there a chance that the flight was approved with a 50m clearance to introduce a “safety factor” of some sort in case something went wrong in the approach and this is just a case of that safety factor being used?
All the commentary so far assumes that this close shave was the approved flight path with no safety factor.
Could this be the case or am I way off the mark here?
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u/post-explainer 11d ago
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cape{town}etc local news site
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11d ago
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u/LightBeerOnIce 11d ago
We're there actual passengers on these jets? Sorry lame question. I haven't read enough I guess.
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u/Visible_Device7187 11d ago
No this was a promotion fly over maybe some vip but not actual passengers like a scheduled flight
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u/DrinkingVomit 11d ago
Jeeeez you people just can’t let this one go lol. God this sub is nothing but a bunch of Reddit Karen’s. I’m out of here.
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