33 unhurt after plane overshoots runway

Roy McKenzie

Cape Town - SA Airlink has confirmed that its flight SA8625 operating from Cape Town to George was involved in "an incident" on landing at George Airport on Monday morning, but that 30 passengers and three crew are unhurt.

"The aircraft, an Embraer 135 (37 seat) regional jet ZS SJX, is reported as having aquaplaned off the end of the wet runway," SA Airlink said.

The incident occurred at 11:06.

"Airlink has arranged trauma counselling for all passengers and crew. Airport staff and trauma councillors are with the passengers at present," spokesperson Karin Murray said.

Ended up on road

"The aircraft appears to be damaged the extent of which is unknown at this stage."

The company apologised for any inconvenience caused to passengers, and said it would release further information as soon as it becomes available.

"The airplane landed at about 11:00 this morning, it went through the lights at the end of the runway, through the fence, and ended up on the road itself," Western Cape police spokesperson Inspector Bernadine Steyn told News24 from the scene.

Traffic was not affected.

Western Cape Safety and Security department spokesperson Julian Jansen told Sapa that the plane came to a halt at an intersection between the airport and the N2 freeway.

"The plane overshot the runway because the brakes apparently failed," Sapa quoted him as saying.

- News24

more articles about the incident here and here and here.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Press release:

By George, it was the runway after all!

Johannesburg, 6 May 2010

Airlink welcomes today’s pronouncement by the Civil Aviation Authority that the aquaplaning accident at George on 7 December 2009 was caused by a combination of runway deficiencies resulting from; the use of bituminous fogspray, depressions in the runway surface allowing water to pool, and inadequate macro texture and micro texture.

The accident catalysed a sequence of events including; an intensive and rigorous audit by the CAA which culminated in some findings that jeopardised the airline, and the unrelated grounding of the Jetstream 4100 aircraft type on 23 December after a benign discontinued takeoff at Mpumalanga, which in isolation would not have justified any intervention by the CAA. Airlink was as a consequence of the George accident thrown into mayhem and the events that ensued with many flights being disrupted were particularly unsettling for our passengers. Public perceptions created by the media in response to the accident were that Airlink presented an imminent threat to safety and practised alleged “dodgy” maintenance. Travellers were concerned about flying with Airlink and many chose alternative means of getting to their destinations or cancelled their bookings. This has been the most difficult period in Airlink’s history and its biggest threat.

The thorough audits (and independent reviews by internationally accredited aviation experts including Captain Scully Levin) that Airlink was subjected to and voluntarily undertook, confirmed that Airlink’s aircraft are airworthy, are maintained to the highest international standards, and that Airlink’s operational and safety procedures and standards are world class.

Airlink CEO Rodger Foster said “the finding by the CAA that Airlink was not in any way to blame for the George accident is a further affirmation of Airlink’s integrity as a serious and committed airline to upholding the highest international operational and safety standards. Airlink has emerged from the post accident trauma as a stronger leaner more efficient business with enhanced procedures and standards”.
Cognizant that many customers have experienced service disruptions resulting from the restrictions imposed by the CAA on the use of the runway in wet conditions, Airlink is relieved that runway resurfacing is in progress and looks forward to this work being completed on or before 18 May and to the lifting of the restrictions such that air services at George can be normalised for all operators.

“Now that the cause of the accident has been made public, Airlink would like to acknowledge the efforts and skills of our crew, Captain Andre Bakker, First Officer Richard Halton and our Flight Attendant Anneena Hurling, in ensuring the safety of our passengers during the accident and subsequently evacuating our passengers was nothing short of heroic. The fact that there were no serious injuries, other than a sprained ankle sustained by the First Officer, bears testament to the professionalism of our pilots in the circumstances. This applies equally to all George airport emergency response staff and especially our passenger handling team led by John Spence, said Rodger.

“Airlink wishes to thank our many loyal customers for their continued support of our services and for their numerous messages of encouragement throughout these very challenging times. We apologise for any inconvenience and disruption they may have experienced”, Foster emphasized.

see some news articles on the report here and here and here.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

in spite of initial attempts of journalists and news sites and commenters on the websites to blame airlink, the pilots and the maintenance of the planes, it seems that the problem was with the runway.

i am proud of the way my brother and his crew handled this very difficult situation. their actions prevented serious consequences and possible loss of lives.

you are my hero, brother!