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Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele has assured all travellers that
South Africa is still one of the safest countries in the world in which
to travel by air.

The Minister*s assurance follows a South African Airlink plane which
went off the end of the runway at George Airport earlier today (Monday,
7 December) and came to rest on a perimeter road leading to the N2
highway.

*We want to assure all those who make use or intend making use of air
travel in South Africa that our planes and airport infrastructure are
safe. There have been two isolated incidents of runway excursions in the
past weeks, but there is nothing to panic about. South Africa has one of
the best air safety records in the world,* the Minister said.

Runway excursions are a worldwide problem and are being aggressively
addressed by both aviation authorities and air safety bodies.

According to reports, the 37-seater aircraft was arriving from Cape
Town when it aquaplaned off the end of the wet runway. It penetrated the
airport perimeter fence and came to a halt at a road between the airport
and the N2 freeway. It didn't affect traffic on the freeway, and 33
people were evacuated from the aeroplane, five of them with minor
injuries. Weather at the time is reported as being overcast with rain.

Ends.