Oct 10, 2026 · 25 min · 10 segments
In the very first episode of Let’s Wing It, host Ruben Delmage sits down with pilot Gerard van Rooyen to hear the unbelievable story of the day his aircraft nearly went up in flames.What started as a…
But let's just get to it, because, I mean, you, you mentioned earlier that you've been doing this for more than 22 years, and suddenly, just on this day, it was a perfect storm that came together, which, what was different? What in your, what in your mind do you think happened? What was different on this day?
Obviously, I wish I knew what was different, because we've done it so many times in the exact same way.
But, uh, what I did is afterwards I did some research, um, on the internet, um, asked AI what could have been.
It, it, it has to do with static electricity, right? As fuel flows through a hose, it strips away some elec- electro- electrons and it creates a, a small charge, electrical, electrical charge between the, the source, uh, and the destination of where the fuel is going.
And, um, if that, if those containers are both earthed, they are in contact with the ground, then the, the, the, the charge that is generated will go into the ground so that it won't have any effect.
But if some of them, if, if they are isolated, the charge build up, uh, uh, stays within your, within your s- uh, uh, system, let's call it a system.
Now, what happened in this case, because we decided, um, to fill the container only half, uh, when, when, when it was halfway, it, he pulled the, the, the hose out.
Now let me explain to you, I have done this many times in the same way, so it's not something new or different.
But this time, uh, from what I understand reading, uh, the, the, the AI's explanation, there is a vapor in the top part of the container.
And as he pulled the, the hose out, it's, uh, it unloaded a little spark because the, the, the, the connection was now broken.
And that spark ignited the vapor and that started burning from inside the container, and the flames go out the, out the top, which gave him a big fright and he pulled the hose even further and the flames followed the hose.
Now, there's a lot of people that have got lots of comments saying, "Don't use plastic containers." It's no- it's got nothing to do with the plastic container.
Except in this case, there should have been some form of earthing, which I now realize.
But you know, it's very difficult to realize something if you have been doing it for 20 years and nothing happened, and now suddenly it happens.
I was gonna get to that, uh, to ask you the question, what would you do differently now going forward after this whole incident?
Uh, again, um, from, from some of the comments that I've seen on the internet and, um, from understanding and reading what I know now from the internet, what I would do different is, because these are plastic containers, they're not conductive.
But let's just get to it, because, I mean, you, you mentioned earlier that you've been doing this for more than 22 years, and suddenly, just on this day, it was a perfect storm that came together, which, what was different? What in your, what in your mind do you think happened? What was different on this day?
Obviously, I wish I knew what was different, because we've done it so many times in the exact same way.
But, uh, what I did is afterwards I did some research, um, on the internet, um, asked AI what could have been.
It, it, it has to do with static electricity, right? As fuel flows through a hose, it strips away some elec- electro- electrons and it creates a, a small charge, electrical, electrical charge between the, the source, uh, and the destination of where the fuel is going.
And, um, if that, if those containers are both earthed, they are in contact with the ground, then the, the, the, the charge that is generated will go into the ground so that it won't have any effect.
But if some of them, if, if they are isolated, the charge build up, uh, uh, stays within your, within your s- uh, uh, system, let's call it a system.
Now, what happened in this case, because we decided, um, to fill the container only half, uh, when, when, when it was halfway, it, he pulled the, the, the hose out.
Now let me explain to you, I have done this many times in the same way, so it's not something new or different.
But this time, uh, from what I understand reading, uh, the, the, the AI's explanation, there is a vapor in the top part of the container.
And as he pulled the, the hose out, it's, uh, it unloaded a little spark because the, the, the, the connection was now broken.
And that spark ignited the vapor and that started burning from inside the container, and the flames go out the, out the top, which gave him a big fright and he pulled the hose even further and the flames followed the hose.
Now, there's a lot of people that have got lots of comments saying, "Don't use plastic containers." It's no- it's got nothing to do with the plastic container.
Except in this case, there should have been some form of earthing, which I now realize.
But you know, it's very difficult to realize something if you have been doing it for 20 years and nothing happened, and now suddenly it happens.
I was gonna get to that, uh, to ask you the question, what would you do differently now going forward after this whole incident?
Uh, again, um, from, from some of the comments that I've seen on the internet and, um, from understanding and reading what I know now from the internet, what I would do different is, because these are plastic containers, they're not conductive.
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