“We Never Got To See the Footage”: Family Appeals for Clips of Legendary 1974 Plane Landing

• The son of the captain who landed a South Airways plane in 1974 asked the public for help finding footage of the landing
• The man shared who might have recorded the landing of the aircraft, which carried a soccer team
• Some social media users remembered the flight and shared their memories of it in the comment section

A local folk musician, Nibs Van Der Spuy, appealed online for information about a flight his father, Alexis 'Topper' van der Spuy, captained in 1974. The South African Airways captain allegedly transported the Rangers Football Club from Cape Town to Johannesburg and "made a nose-up landing."

On 1 February 2026, Nibs, who posted on the South African Airways Friends' Facebook page and wrote to the public:

"If anyone has more information on this, I would so appreciate it. Apparently, there were construction workers at the airport, and a Portuguese guy filmed the landing. The story made the 'African Mirror', but we never got to see the footage.

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"I look forward to reading comments from anyone who witnessed the landing, and if anyone knows anything about the footage."

He added in the comments that his father died 30 years ago.

Take a look at the Facebook post here.

1974 Plane landing sparks a conversation

Many social media users flew to the comment section to share their memories about the flight.

Andrew Ope Forbes claimed in the comments:

"My grandfather was on that flight. He was the Rangers' soccer coach. He told me about this incident many years ago."

Stella van der Westhuizen told Nibs:

"You can be so proud of your dad! What a brilliant pilot!"

Derek Lawler advised the musician:

"It might be worth having a look on YouTube. There's an incredible amount of footage regarding airliners from all over, including South Africa."

Mandy Swallow Stolp added under the post:

"From what I've read, your dad saved everyone on board. He was a true captain."

3 Other stories about footage

• In another article, Briefly News reported that radio personality Sol Phenduka responded to the dash cam footage of the fatal Vaal crash.
• A content creator revealed the challenges of vlogging in South African shops when a stranger spotted her phone recording on a shelf.
• Last year, CCTV footage reportedly emerged of Marious van der Merwe's last moment before his murder.

Source: Briefly News