FlySafair flight FA 268’s near-disaster: Was a serious incident covered up?

A fully loaded out-of-control FlySafair Boeing 737 was just seconds away from crashing near King Shaka International Airport in Durban in June 2023, when pilots recovered the aircraft.

But an investigation by The Citizen raises questions about whether the serious incident was reported in time, or whether the airline tried to cover it up.

What happened with the Irish-controlled airline FlySafair’s Flight 268 on 27 June 2023 in Durban was only brought to the attention of the SA Civil Aviation Authority (Sacaa) after a tip-off from an anonymous whistle-blower.

FlySafair incident report claims

Only after that did the airline itself officially report the incident.

Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS), which recorded the drastic deviation from the normal flight profile, also reported to the CAA within the legally required time.

The events surrounding flight FA 268 were reported on Facebook group FlyAfrica last year.

South African law requires that serious aviation incidents be reported within 24 hours by the pilots, the airline and organisations like Air Traffic Control and Navigation Services (ATNS).

FlySafair marketing manager Kirby Gordon claimed that the airline reported the incident on 25 August, 2023 “in full compliance with all regulatory requirements”.

Sacaa, however, contradicted Gordon and indicated that the carrier only reported the event almost three months after the fact, on 18 September.

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It said a whistle-blower lodged a report through the Confidential Aviation Hazard Reporting System on the same day Gordon claimed to have reported the incident.

Sacaa spokesperson Sisa Majola initially said that the Confidential Aviation Hazard Reporting System call was the first they had heard of the incident.

In a subsequent e-mail, he noted that ATNS reported it within the correct time frame.

Air traffic controllers reported the incident shortly after it happened.

Mphilo Dlamini, spokesperson for ATNS, confirmed that ATNS reported the incident.

“We followed mandatory occurrence reporting procedures. ATNS submitted the necessary reports in compliance with regulatory requirements.”

According to the post on FlyAfrica, the FlySafair pilots were allegedly also made to sign non-disclosure agreements on the incident.

Gordon denied this.

Erased data

Majola said that by the time the incident was acknowledged by the airline in September, the aircraft cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder had been overwritten.

This would have impeded the Accident and Incident Investigation Directorate’s investigation.

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FlySafair’s Gordon maintained that all required steps had been taken to secure flight data, but he did not respond to why Sacaa initially said the data was erased.

Weeks later, Sacaa amended its response, stating that the data had been downloaded and sent to Boeing for analysis.

Boeing spokesperson Paul J Lewis declined to share any information.

“On this occasion, I am going to refer you to Safair and the SA regulatory authority for a response.”

Gordon did not respond to a question about whether or not Safair had notified Boeing.

‘A serious incident’

FlySafair Flight 268 dropped to 105m above ground level at extreme speed before the pilots managed to recover.

Gordon described the event as a “serious incident” and compared it to what he considered a similar and “highly comparable” Airlink incident at Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport in September last year.

“Reports indicate the pilots involved were dismissed and required to sign nondisclosure agreements,” said Gordon.

“No reports are public on this flight which the airline management no doubt seeks to suppress.”

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While the FlyAfrica post termed the FlySafair flight FA 268 a near-disaster, Sacaa’s classification of the event as a “routine missed approach” was at odds with flight data from Flight Radar24, a global airline tracking service, which showed the uncontrolled and rapid descent, extreme speed and just in time recovery.

Duncan Gillespie, an experienced Boeing 737 captain, said it was curious how Sacaa, allegedly without any data at hand, could conclude that it was a routine missed approach.

“This when public data clearly shows that it was not normal by any degree of the imagination.”

Yet, despite being shown the disparity between published go-around procedures and FA 268’s deviation, Majola said that “the go-around manoeuvre was conducted in compliance with established aviation safety protocols. Sacaa found the airline and flight crew acted appropriately and in the best interest of safety”.

Initially, Sacaa classified the event as a Section 73 compliance review, which it said does not require public disclosure.

Later, Sacaa adjusted its stance, stating that the incident was not an Annex 13 reportable event, but a Part 140 occurrence, which interrogates an airline’s internal safety management system.

Sacaa publishes accident and incident reports on its website, including minor occurrences with no fatalities.

Flight 268 is not on Sacaa’s website.

Gordon alleged that journalist Hein Kaiser is conflicted because he previously worked in aviation.

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