Watch: 'Could've ended so badly'- Fans shocked at aircraft flyover before All Blacks test
A flyover before the All Blacks’ second test against the Springboks has left fans shocked at how close the planes came to the stadium.
Footage from the broadcast showed two Airlink Embraer 190s pass right over the top of the stadium, low enough to pass directly through smoke from the pre-match fireworks.
According to the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA), unless an aircraft has written approval from its director, planes can’t be “flown over built-up areas or over an open-air assembly of persons at a height less than 1000 feet above the highest obstacle, within a radius of 2000 feet from the aircraft” and for “repeated overflights over an open-air assembly of persons at a height less than 3000 feet above the surface”.
Videos from in and around the stadium appear to show the two aircraft coming close to the top of Cape Town’s DHL Stadium which has a height of 50m (164ft).
Inside Flyer reported the barometric readings showed 50m altitude and GPS logged 925 feet, which come within the regulations set by SACAA.
“I don’t think they were supposed to be that low,” one X user said.
The pre-match flyover for the All Blacks test in Cape Town came dangerously close to the top of DHL Stadium. Photo / Sky Sport
“Someone may be in trouble.”
Another asked Airlink to think about people’s safety, while someone else called it “stupid” and said it “could’ve ended so badly”.
Fans who were watching on TV thought the images might have been AI generated before videos shared on social media confirmed the stunt was genuine.
The All Blacks shared their own video of the jets passing over the stadium, showing the fireworks making contact with the bottom of one of the planes and saying “This is impressive” in the video’s caption.
Low-altitude flyovers have become common at major South African rugby matches, with one also happening before the first test in Johannesburg last week.
The tradition can be traced back to the 1995 Rugby World Cup final when a South African Airways Boeing 747 jet flew over Ellis Park before South Africa secured their first Webb Ellis Cup against New Zealand.
The two planes that flew over DHL Stadium, registered as ZS-YAE and ZS-YDE, departed Cape Town about 2pm local time and circled above Robben Island before making the flypast.
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