South Africa Team Left Stranded At Trinidad Airport Due To A Plane Crash Ahead Of The Final

South African players, their families, and match officials were left stuck at Trinidad airport following the Proteas’ historic semi-final victory against Afghanistan.

According to ESPNCricinfo, the Civil Aviation Authority and the Barbados Police Service completely shut down Grantley Adams Airport following the landing failure of a small private aircraft in Barbados.

The Indian team will face South Africa in the World Cup final, which will take place in Barbados.

They are coming off a victory over England, while South Africa came here after defeating Afghanistan. The T20 World Cup Final will feature two unbeaten teams for the first time.

The South Africa team is stuck at the airport:

An incident at the Barbados airport left the South African players, their families, commentators, and match officials stranded at the Trinidad Airport, according to a report from ESPN Cricinfo.

Following the unsuccessful landing of a small private aircraft, the Civil Aviation Authority and the Barbados Police Service closed down the whole of Grantley Adams Airport in Barbados for inspections. The pilot of the SA team’s flight got notification of the runway closure in Bridgetown just as they were ready to take off.

“It appeared that the landing gear of the private aircraft did not deploy, but it is currently on the runway at GAIA [Grantley Adams International Airport] safely,” Sharleen Brown, Corporate Communication Specialist with GAIA, said in a statement, confirming that all three individuals on board—two passengers and a pilot—were unharmed.

Nonetheless, there have been previous instances of this kind of event happening, and a team faced something similar during the T20 World Cup in 2024.

Previously, Sri Lanka‘s journey from Florida to New York required them to spend an entire night at the airport. Afghanistan experienced a flight delay before arriving in Trinidad for their first-ever semi-final matchup with South Africa.