The plane, a twin-engined Airbus A330-300, got into trouble on the flight when, as it was travelling north of Gaborone in Botswana, its engines surged.
Details of a dangerous SAA flight from Ghana to Johannesburg on 14 April this year have been confirmed by the airline after the story emerged on social media. SAA operated an aircraft from Accra to Johannesburg after it had a fuel contamination problem on the ground. The airline put passengers on the plane although the trip back to base in Johannesburg was a “ferry flight” to return the aircraft for technical inspection.
And the plane, a twin-engined Airbus A330-300, did get into trouble on the flight when, as it was travelling north of Gaborone in Botswana, its engines surged.The captain descended to a lower level to ease pressure on the fuel pumps and take a gravity-driven fuel feed instead. The Airbus then continued on to Johannesburg and landed safely, although the fuel problems persisted during the approach phase of landing.
SA Flyer editor and aviation analyst Guy Leitch said contaminated fuel was one of the riskiest technical challenges an airliner could face. Contaminated fuel could have deadly consequences, especially when there were only two engines, as in the A330-300., only lists two people on board the flight, not almost 200 fare payers.
SAA also confirmed the social media post that said the commander of the flight was Captain Vusi Khumalo. He was also part of the crew that operated the SAA vaccine flight to Brussels last year, where controversial waivers by the SACAA allowed the flight to go ahead.
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