Fake news fly: Tweet on nearmiss between two aircraft at OR Tambo causes panic

Fake news about a nearmiss between two aircraft at OR Tambo International Airport on Monday night has spread like wildfire, damaging reputations and business relationships as it was passed on like a hot potato.

The tweet by Twitter channel Flying News Live Updates ZA claimed that a Star Air Cargo aircraft, inbound from Cape Town, was forced to abort its landing after an Ethiopian Airlines flight, ET 858 was cleared to depart on the same runway at about 11pm.

The channel further reported that before the Star Air Cargo was due to land, on final approach, air traffic control gave the go-ahead for the Ethiopian flight to take off.

Record set straight

Brandon Winnan, head of operations at Star Air Cargo, rubbished the tweet and set the record straight. “Our flight was on final approach when, due to poor visibility and weather conditions, the crew decided to do a go-around.

This meant that the aircraft didn’t land but repositioned itself for a second attempt,” he said. “There was no near miss.”

He said that in addition to the go-around, Ethiopian Airlines was held at the same runway at the departure point and instructed to wait for the Star Air Cargo aircraft to land. Sensationalism emanating from the fake tweet came at a cost.

Winnan said calls from clients negatively influenced by the tweet flooded the Star Air Cargo phone lines, along with media trying to solicit a measure of scandal.

“Even the Civil Aviation Authority called for an explanation And all it was, was a stock standard, by the book, go-around procedure,” he added.

The website listed on the Twitter feed showed that while on social media it lists its location as Kempton Park, the blog the link leads to seems to be an amateur social commentator in Thohoyandou.

READ MORE: Buckle up for more turbulence when traveling by plane

‘Damaging’

The phone number on the semifunctional site rang unanswered. Michelle Venter of Bold Online said this was a prime example of how quickly fake news could spread and how potentially damaging it could be.

“It can set off a chain of events, as with the Star Air Cargo incident, that could severely damage the reputation of a company or an individual,” she said.

“It is also a good example of how a half-truth, constructed from real-life events, can be manipulated into believable fake news.”

Winnan said Star Air Cargo continued to field calls late into yesterday afternoon, slashing his productivity by at least six hours of cumulative query handling.

“People just do not realise the damage they can cause,” he said.

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– news@citizen.co.za