Two Airlink passenger aircraft became the unexpected stars of the build-up to the Springboks’ clash with the All Blacks at Cape Town’s DHL Stadium on Saturday, after carrying out a dramatic formation flypast that looked like it took the jets remarkably close to the stadium roof.

The flypast happened shortly before kick-off on 29 August, with the two Embraer aircraft flying over the packed stadium as part of the pre-match show for the second Test of the “Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry” series.

Footage of the aircraft quickly went viral. Some viewers called the manoeuvre dangerous and questioned how commercial passenger jets could fly so low over a stadium packed with tens of thousands of people.

Flight-tracking analysis by Flightradar24 estimated that the lead aircraft passed about 41 to 46 feet, or roughly 12.5 to 14 metres, above the stadium roof. The organisation said the aircraft’s lowest recorded standard-pressure altitude was around 50 feet, with adjustments made for local atmospheric pressure.

Airlink, however, has rejected claims that the flypast broke aviation safety rules.

In a statement issued on 30 August, the airline said it was aware of concerns raised on social media and online forums, but maintained that the operation had stayed within the required safety limits.

“The flight demanded careful planning and rehearsal,” Airlink said, according to reports of its statement.

The airline said the flypast had been approved with guidance from the South African Civil Aviation Authority and Air Traffic and Navigation Services.

Airlink also said the two aircraft were flown by highly experienced crews. Six senior captains were involved across the two aircraft, with three assigned to each jet in commander, co-pilot and safety/technical roles. The aircraft flew at about 150 knots.

Most importantly, Airlink said the flight-data recordings from both aircraft confirmed that the operation stayed within the approved and rehearsed altitude and speed limits.

The airline has since offered the aircraft’s flight-data records to the South African Civil Aviation Authority for an independent review. It said this would allow the regulator to check the operation against the authorised flight plan.

The incident has still sparked an international aviation debate.

The concern is not necessarily that the aircraft were about to hit the stadium. Instead, aviation specialists have questioned how much room pilots would have had to react if something unexpected happened while flying so close to the ground and over a large crowd.

Chris Martinus, president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association South Africa, described the flypast as exciting and something that could inspire national pride. But from an aviation-safety point of view, he said it looked “a little unwise”. He pointed to the limited options pilots would have had if an engine failed or another problem occurred at such a low altitude.

Airlink, though, says the flypast was not an improvised stunt. The airline maintains that it was a planned aviation operation carried out with regulatory approval, experienced crews and clearly defined altitude and speed limits.

The display also brought back a long-running South African rugby tradition. Major rugby matches have featured dramatic aircraft flyovers before, most famously the South African Airways Boeing 747 flypast over Ellis Park before the 1995 Rugby World Cup final.

This year’s version was meant to bring that tradition into the modern era, using two Airlink Embraer regional jets to add some extra theatre to one of South Africa’s biggest sporting events.

The debate now comes down to whether the flypast was a carefully executed and authorised piece of aviation theatre, as Airlink says, or whether the extremely small safety margin made it unnecessarily risky.

With the aviation regulator reviewing the flight data, the final verdict will ultimately depend on the evidence recorded by the aircraft, rather than the dramatic appearance of the videos circulating online.