On this day in 1910, a man by the name of Thomas Thornton became the first South African aeroplane passenger when he flew from the top of Sydenham Hill in Johannesburg.
Thornton became the first person to fly in an aeroplane as a passenger when he paid Albert Kimmerling £100 for a short flight from Sydenham Hill. On the same day, reporter Julia Stansfield became the first female passenger to fly on a plane when Kimmerling took her on a flight over Johannesburg.
Kimmerling, a Frenchman, made the first powered flight in South Africa in a Viosin Canard Seaplane. This flight took place in East London on 28 December 1909, over the Nahoon Racecourse. At the end of February 1910, Kimmerling made three flights in the Sydenham Hill area, near Orange Grove in Johannesburg.
Information courtesy of: https://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/thomas-thornton-becomes-first-passenger-aeroplane-south-africa.
