Panic aboard SAA flights

File picture: Supplied

File picture: Supplied

Published Dec 5, 2016

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Johannesburg - Passengers on two separate SAA flights were left anxious and concerned after both flights experienced mechanical problems.

A flight from New York’s JFK Airport had to turn back an hour into its journey to South Africa due to a flap malfunction on one of the wings on Saturday night, while another one bound for Washington was delayed for 24 hours in Accra, Ghana, on Friday after an engine failed to restart.

Several passengers on the flight from New York said it was announced to the cabin that a vast quantity of fuel, costing about a million rand, had to be dumped while the plane was on its way back to the airport.

A passenger who asked to remain anonymous for professional reasons said there was “a wing failure” and passengers were told that it was too dangerous to fly over the Atlantic Ocean with the plane in this condition.

That announcement was made an hour into their flight and they had to be airborne for another hour while the fuel was being dumped.

“The pilot was amazing. He saved our lives. He and the crew kept everyone calm and they were so helpful,” the passenger said.

Also on that flight was media analyst Arthur Goldstuck, who said the pilot, Captain Marius Santos, and his crew should be highly commended for the way they dealt with the situation.

“It’s a rare occasion to have a plane malfunction in the air; it’s the first time it has happened to me and it’s always a worry. But it’s the best communication I’ve ever had from a pilot in a dicey situation.

“Rather than making me nervous about SAA, it has assured me about the quality of the staff,” Goldstuck said.

A second SAA flight scheduled to leave Joburg for Washington flying via Ghana on Friday night also experienced technical difficulties after landing in Accra.

Adriaan Bester said his partner David Ralphs was on the flight.

“The flight was delayed in Joburg on departure. And then he called me from Ghana (where they had been scheduled to stop over) to say they were delayed further. The explanation given was that an engine did not restart and a crew was sent from South Africa to repair it,” Bester said.

He said passengers were booked into a hotel in Accra for the day.

“We tried to make light of it but he was annoyed because he missed his connection to Charlotte in North Carolina,” he said.

Ralphs flew to the US for work, and Bester explained that he was tired and had be “fresh for meetings”.

“They only just landed in Washington a few minutes ago,” he said on Sunday afternoon.

SAA spokesperson Tlali Tlali confirmed both incidents and apologised on behalf of the airline to passengers for the inconvenience.

“We trust that they (the passengers) appreciate that safety was the main consideration. We await the report to shed light on a number of areas, including on whether the flap defect could have been detected before the flight commenced,” he said.

Tlali, however, denied that the fuel dumped during the New York flight was worth a million rand. “We do not have the exact details on the quantities and other relevant data at this stage. Typically, we use a little more than R500 000 in jet fuel to operate on that sector on a nonstop basis.

“Given what we know at this stage, it’s possible that approximately R200 000 in jet fuel could have been jettisoned to enable the flight to make a safe landing in accordance with the aircraft structure and weight restrictions for landing.

“A claim that about R1 million in jet fuel was jettisoned is ignorant of the facts,” said Tlali.

@Lanc_02

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The Star

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