I Watched The Airlink Flypast Like Everyone Else. Here's What I Saw.

Two Airlink E-Jets, one black and one green, flew over Cape Town Stadium seconds before the Springboks and the All Blacks kicked off. Within an hour the whole internet had an opinion on how low it was. This is what an airline pilot actually saw: where the 50 foot number comes from and what it really means, why a flypast like that is flown in briefing rooms for weeks before it is flown over a roof, the risk formula I teach pilots every week, and the one question nobody asked the tens of thousands of people sitting underneath it.

I have never flown a flypast and I say so up front. I am not going to tell you it was wrong, and I am not going to tell you it was fine. I will tell you what the numbers say and where they come from, what Airlink says, and why "our pilots are skilled enough to pull it off" is the one argument that worries me more than the altitude does.

One word in the comments: would you want it done again next Saturday? Yes or no.

WHERE THE STORY STANDS

Airlink says six senior captains flew the two aircraft, three in each, that the flight was planned and rehearsed, and that it was flown inside altitude and speed limits approved by the South African Civil Aviation Authority. Airlink has since handed the flight data from both aircraft to the SACAA for review, and the SACAA has said it will issue a statement. I will track that in the pinned comment. The third test is at FNB Stadium on Saturday 5 September.

TIME-STAMPED FLIGHT PLAN

00:00 Twelve Seconds Over Cape Town

00:39 What I Am, And What I Am Not

01:30 Ellis Park 1995 And The Hype

02:44 How Low Was It, Really?

04:09 Preparation, Not Bravery

05:30 The Snake On The Briefing Room Desk