Spectator stunned by low flyover at Cape Town rugby stadium: “Probably one of my top-5 moments in my life”

An extremely low flyover above a rugby stadium in South Africa has left many people asking: How low is too low?

Two passenger jets — one following the other — swept just above the packed DHL Stadium in Cape Town on Saturday, coming really close to more than 56,000 people below.

For a spectator who witnessed the passenger jets soaring overhead and captured it on video, it was a moment to remember. 

“I didn’t feel any danger from my side. I was just like, ‘Wow, this is insane,'” said Marcel Opperman.

“It was amazing,” he said. “Probably one of my top-five moments in my life.”

Preliminary flight data estimates the planes cleared the stadium by only about 50 feet, which airline captain Laura Einsetler said is “really low and really tight for an airliner.” 

She said the full-size jets are very different from the fighter jets often seen in flyovers.

“It was just too low for this situation with this type of jet at those speeds and angles,” Einsetler said.

The spectacle has roots going back more than three decades. Back in 1995, just a year after South Africa’s first democratic elections, a South African Airways 747 flew low over a Johannesburg stadium during a Rugby World Cup final, as the country emerged from apartheid. 

In a statement, Airlink said the planes in Saturday’s flyover were operating safely, telling CBS News: “The flight demanded careful planning and rehearsal, as it required navigating at low altitude. … The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) and Air Traffic Navigation Services provided valuable guidance, approval and support to ensure a safe flyby.”

Airlink said the pilots were senior and experienced, and that they stayed within the altitude and speed limits set by the South African equivalent of the FAA.