How the mighty Russian bombers ‘terrified’ Kempton Park during takeoff

The “most terrifying experience” we had.

This was how a Dann Road resident described the noise two Russian Air Force Tu-160s (Blackjack bombers) made when departing from OR Tambo International Airport in the early hours of Sunday morning on October 27.

Corna Moolman was not the only one who wondered what had happened. Many residents took to social media, asking what had caused the noise.

In a letter written to Kempton Express, Moolman said they were woken by an aircraft “either flying very low, or having engine problems”.

“Normally, aircraft noise is part of our lives, and one gets used to it, but this was totally different,” she wrote.

“The aircraft sounded as if it was going to fall out of the sky and on to our houses. Our houses were shaken to their foundation. It sounded as if the aircraft had trouble flying as it was flying extremely slowly. The sound could be heard for another 15 minutes.

“Then, about 20 minutes to half an hour later, another aircraft came over with the same noise, although not as intense as the first one, and this one was not so extremely slow.”

The two aircraft, an Il-62 and an An-124, initially landed at Air Force Base Waterkloof on October 23, after flying for 13 hours from Engels Air Base in Russia.

Their visit formed part of engagements to strengthen military-to-military relations between South Africa and Russia, in particular air force-to-air force relations.

They cruised at an altitude of 8,000m for about three hours.

After refuelling and preparing for the return flight to Russia, the aircraft left OR Tambo at around 3am on Sunday morning for an 11,000km flight.

The Tu-160s’ historic first visit to South Africa coincided with the opening of the first Russia-Africa Summit.