A movie moment for South Africa at World Cup?
Reporting from Johannesburg, South Africa -- One of the more gripping scenes in the 2009 movie “Invictus” shows a South African Airways jumbo jet buzzing the top of a packed Johannesburg stadium just minutes before the start of the championship match of the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
Inspired by the good-luck message stenciled on the plane’s wings, South Africa goes on to win the game in one of the sport’s biggest upsets. Cut to credits.
It didn’t quite happen the way it was depicted, said Laurie Kay, the retired pilot who was at the controls of the 747 that day. But if the airline can get approval from FIFA, soccer’s governing body, the stunt may be reprised Friday afternoon when South Africa opens soccer’s World Cup against heavily favored Mexico.
“The preparation for it has been done,” Kay said Monday. “The people at SAA said they’re still a little in the dark. FIFA is almost the government at the moment. What they say goes.”
And a FIFA official said Monday the flyover was definitely a no-go.
“It’s forbidden,” FIFA spokeswoman Delia Fischer said. “No plane will receive permission to fly over any of the World Cup stadiums as the air space is restricted within a 1-kilometer radius.”
Flyovers are somewhat common in South Africa, taking place at presidential inaugurations and other major public events. And Kay said the one before the rugby World Cup was coordinated among several government agencies, beginning months in advance.
But adding the good-luck message beneath the plane wasn’t approved until 10 p.m. the night before. And although the players were in the locker room when Kay flew over, opening the throttles to the 747’s four massive engines just as it crossed the rim of the stadium, he said the two passes he made that day fired up the crowd and contributed to South Africa’s win.
“Hugely, I believe,” he said. “When you’re before the home crowd, you have to rise to the occasion. You can’t play in South Africa as a visitor and expect to win too easily. We’ve got hometown advantage here.”
Kay is still hopeful FIFA will change its mind. But if it does give the go-ahead, he won’t be in the cockpit.
“I’m retired,” he said. Anyway, “it’s on an Airbus, and my loyalties to the Boeing 747 wouldn’t allow me to do it.”
