82 SA Flyer
N
OW, this article
is not about stick
and rudder skills
and the dreadful
consequences that
stalk the unwary
pilot. It is about
more mundane
perils that threaten general aviation pilots
and aircraft owners as a group. It’s about
a situation that, similarly, requires deft
reaction to recover stability and counter the
wing drop that will inevitably end the ight.
POLITICS, POLITICS, POLITICS
2016 has been a year of enormous
political upheaval for all South Africans.
Curiously, aviation has been at the centre
of most of the controversy that began late
last year when the Civil Aviation Authority’s
Poppy Khoza launched her “where are the
black pilots?” tirade, closely followed by
South African Airways chairperson Dudu
Myeni’s attack on the costliness of the
national carrier’s mostly-white pilots as
being the cause of the airline’s constant
bleeding of billions of Rand, with no end in
sight.
Turmoil within the ANC government
and pressures upon the Minister of Finance
to bail out SAA once again, and a furore
around Myeni’s lack of qualications and
management skills, led to the remarkable
‘three Finance Ministers in a weekend’
debacle that lost our currency more billions
in value, compounding an already weak
economy and lack of business condence.
The turbulence gave way to a little
positivity with Pravin Gordhan holding the
Finance post again and local government
elections showing a rm move away by the
public from the ANC and its damaging spiral
of corruption, nepotism and incompetence.
But it was short-lived. Gordhan was bullied
by the Hawks and yielded in keeping
Myeni in the chair at SAA and delivering
another R4.7 billion to be squandered on
the ailing SAA. Myeni’s attacks against
SAA pilots have resumed, presumably as
a smokescreen for business as usual –
plundering national resources.
THE WORLD LOOKS ON
Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending
on one’s viewpoint, the chaos is not limited
to South Africa’s own infrastructure and
economics, and inexplicable loyalty to the
political leadership of Jacob Zuma, despite
dramatic interventions by the courts and
electorate. South Africa’s aviation sector
is closely linked to the rest of the world
through international treaties which are
intended to standardise and stabilise the
safety and security of international aviation
operations – and other nations are anxious
to maintain these standards and stability
through both their own aviation authorities
and the International Civil Aviation
Organization (ICAO).
Pressure by other ICAO member states,
perhaps most notably China, has caused
repercussions for South Africa. SAA’s
failure to respond to earlier ndings and
provide nancial assurances were likely
behind the dropping of their Beijing route
(China accounted for 14% of SAA’s market)
and China’s refusal to accept South African
airline pilots seeking employment.
More ominously, ICAO will be
CHRIS MARTINUS, PRESIDENT AIRCRAFT OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSOCIATION – SOUTH AFRICA
FATAL BASE TO
FINAL TURN
On e O f th e b ig ge s t dan ge rs
faced by cOm p l ace n t pi l O t s
is a n Over sh OO t On th e
ba se t O f i na l tu r n. havi n g
Ov e r sh Ot th e tu r n On t O
fin a l a pprOach, t h e p i lOt
tr i es tO cO r re c t by s tee ply
tur ni ng back O n tr ack ,
in c r ea s in g h is a n gl e Of
ban k a n d t he r efO r e s ta l l
speed. he in st in cti v e ly
tr i es tO l e v el t he wi n gs
a b it b y fe e d in g i n s Om e
Opp O s ite a il e rO n a n d n Ow
the r eci p e is cOm ple t e: th e
ai r cr af t sk id s th e tu r n an d
be fO r e th e pilOt r eali s e s
hi s m i sta ke , h e e n ter s a n
in c i pi e nt s pi n fr O m w hi ch
the r e i s n O r ecOve r y. is th i s
a fi t ti n g m etaphO r fO r th e
ca a , a n d c iv i l avi ati O n i n
sOut h af r ic a?
General aviation is extremely quiet
compared to ten years ago.