Bad Sundays For South African Aviation
By Novell Zwangendaba – JOHANNESBURG, — Barely a month after a plane carrying journalist crash-landed at Lanseria Airport in Gauteng, another small plane with World Cup fans aboard made an emergency landing Sunday on a highway leading to the city of Bloemfontein, where Germany will take on England in the knock-out match, media reports said.
No casualties were caused, according to the reports.
The report quoted police officials as saying that six people were aboard the plane, which landed on the N1 highway after malfunctions were detected during its flight from the city of Benoni to Bloemfontein.
The aircraft reportedly made the emergency at local time (0930 GMT).
Shocked motorists had to make way for the aircraft to land but no one was injured, reports said.
Traffic on the highway returned to normal after the plane was removed.
On Sunday June 13, at 1130 GMT, a Metroliner, operated by African Skies (a South African Charter Company), took an emergency landing at Lanseria Airport in Gauteng yesterday.
According to initial reports, the chartered Metroliner 19-seater turboprop took off from Lanseria Airport with 13 passengers and two crew on the way to Polokwane. On the approach to Polokwane, the crew determined that there were problems with the undercarriage.
They decided to return to Lanseria. They flew around for about an hour to get rid of excess fuel and then completed a “wheels-up landing” – where the plane lands on its belly. The emergency landing took place around 11h30, with emergency services in attendance. The plane was damaged during the landing but the
passengers and crew were unharmed.
