wheelbay
2nd Aug 2005, 07:25
South African Airways pilot told passengers on a flight to Frankfurt on Saturday that he had to jettison the fuel on board and return to Cape Town International because he had forgotten to remove a pin that locked the plane's landing gear while it was on the runway. This meant he was unable to retract the wheels after takeoff.
For safety reasons, tens of thousands of litres of fuel were jettisoned. The dumping apparently took place over False Bay.
Passengers on Saturday's Flight SAA 262 from Cape Town to Frankfurt were told that the main landing gear had not retracted because one of two safety pins had not been removed before takeoff.
Cape Town businessman Anton van Zyl was on the 5pm flight and was surprised when the plane shuddered abnormally and turned south over the Milnerton coastline when it should have headed north. He said they were airborne for more than an hour as the plane dumped fuel.
The flight's captain had accepted responsibility for the problem that led to a three-hour delay and some passengers missing connecting flights, Van Zyl said.
"The flight crew announced that we had a technical problem and could not retract the landing gear. Assurances were made we were not in danger and that we would return to Cape Town International to have the problem seen to and the aircraft refuelled."
SAA media liaison officer Sarah Uys said: "We can confirm there was a technical problem and the aircraft had to return to the airport."
Uys said she would have to consult SAA technical staff before she could say how much it had cost to refuel and whether the incident would be investigated.
For safety reasons, tens of thousands of litres of fuel were jettisoned. The dumping apparently took place over False Bay.
Passengers on Saturday's Flight SAA 262 from Cape Town to Frankfurt were told that the main landing gear had not retracted because one of two safety pins had not been removed before takeoff.
Cape Town businessman Anton van Zyl was on the 5pm flight and was surprised when the plane shuddered abnormally and turned south over the Milnerton coastline when it should have headed north. He said they were airborne for more than an hour as the plane dumped fuel.
The flight's captain had accepted responsibility for the problem that led to a three-hour delay and some passengers missing connecting flights, Van Zyl said.
"The flight crew announced that we had a technical problem and could not retract the landing gear. Assurances were made we were not in danger and that we would return to Cape Town International to have the problem seen to and the aircraft refuelled."
SAA media liaison officer Sarah Uys said: "We can confirm there was a technical problem and the aircraft had to return to the airport."
Uys said she would have to consult SAA technical staff before she could say how much it had cost to refuel and whether the incident would be investigated.