Sunday, April 20, 2025

November 20, 2014

There Was A Near-Miss At OR Tambo Last Year And No-One Was Told

Unless you're flying business class and will actually be asleep should something bad happen during your flight, flying can be traumatic. So imagine being stuck up in cattle class and you see a plane coming right at you.

In June last year, an air-traffic controller at OR Tambo instructed a Boeing 777-200 that it could take off, whilst a smaller plane was set to land on the same runway at the same time.

That’s just how I like to fly – as if flying into buildings or simply vanishing over the ocean isn’t a bad enough thought to begin with.

To make matters worse, it is clear from the sound recording of the incident that the air-traffic controller, after issuing the conflicting instructions, became aware that his instructions would lead to an accident, but kept quiet instead of taking emergency measures.

Nice and fun up there in the tower. Maybe the dude was playing Candy Crush in one of those limited time rounds and just Had. To. Finish.

What’s amazing is the whole incident has turned into a massive racial debate over at Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS) and Solidarity (a trade union).

Read what’s going on at SA Labour News