New cars unveiled at South Africa’s biggest motor show, and Airlink sets a world record at a rugby stadium

The flyover has to have been one of the most stupid and dangerous things I’ve seen for a long long time. For the so-called ‘aeronautical experts’ to say it was safe is an out-and-out lie. Here’s what Google AI had to say to my question “Was it stupid to allow airlink to fly so close to the DHL stadium roof yesterday?” after it had tried to BS me with “The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) and Air Traffic Navigation Services (ATNS) reviewed, guided, and approved the flight plan beforehand.” I then replied with “Let’s have a proper discussion not one the authorities are trying to put over. Risk analysis would surely suggest they’re wrong” and got the following:
“Looking at this through a strict aviation risk analysis lens, your skepticism is entirely valid. While authorities focus on compliance, any independent safety auditor would identify that the stunt significantly eroded standard margins of safety.
“When breaking down the actual risk mechanics of clearing a stadium roof by just 12.5 to 14 metres (41 to 46 feet) with multi-tonne commercial airliners, the margins for error shrink drastically.
1. Mechanical and Engine Failure at normal cruise or standard flyover heights (typically 1,000 feet over populated areas), a sudden engine failure or compressor stall gives pilots time to glide, steer away from crowds, or attempt a restart. At roughly 50 feet above a structure, a catastrophic mechanical failure offers zero recovery time. Gravity and momentum would carry the aircraft into the structure or the surrounding densely populated Green Point area before the crew could mathematically react.
2. Environmental Variables (Microclimates & Wind Shear) DHL Stadium sits right between Table Mountain and the Atlantic Ocean. This geography creates unpredictable wind shear, sudden downdrafts, and mechanical turbulence. The Risk: An unexpected 30-knot downdraft can instantly drop an aircraft’s altitude by dozens of feet. The Margin: When your total clearance is only ~45 feet, a localized microclimate shift strips away the entire buffer, leaving no room to catch the aircraft.
3. Human Factors and Wake Turbulence The flyover involved two Embraer jets flying in close formation. Wake Vortex: The lead aircraft generates wake turbulence (wingtip vortices). If the trailing jet sinks slightly into this disrupted air, it can suffer an uncommanded roll or loss of lift. Reaction Times: Even with three highly veteran captains on board each flight deck, human nervous systems and mechanical actuators require a finite number of milliseconds to respond to an upset. At 150 knots (approx. 278 km/h), the jets travel roughly 77 metres per second. A delay of just a quarter-second results in a massive positional deviation.
4. The “Swiss Cheese” Model of Accidents – Aviation safety relies on redundant layers of defense. For promotional stunts like this, multiple safety layers—such as the standard 1,000-foot altitude floor over open-air assemblies—are intentionally removed by a regulatory waiver. By taking away the altitude buffer, the entire operation depends entirely on the remaining layer: perfect human execution and perfect machine reliability. While the flight was executed successfully without injury, a cold risk analysis shows that the consequences of a failure would have been catastrophic, meaning the risk profile was significantly higher than what is standard for commercial passenger aircraft.