Student pilot: Forefathers said he would not make an aircraft accident

The following is a (very) rough extract from an Afrikaans article that appeared in Beeld:

An airforce student pilot, who failed various tests since 2003 but was allowed to continue with his training, has finally been declared unfit by a Zimbabwean flying instructor.

The student, 2nd Lt Wandile Mphaka, had his flying career cut short last Wednesday after he twice failed to carry out instructions during flight.

If the instructor did not take action, they would certainly have flown into the ground.

In a second case, the flying career of another student pilot, CO Aran Gatenby, is in the balance after he 'seriously objected' to completing his flying training, due to a shortage of instructors, in Botswana.

Mphaka wrote off a training aircraft in 2004 when he extended the airbrake after he was to take-off immediately after a landing. He had already failed repeated exams, while higher authority decided that he would benefit from further training. The instructors were later accused of racism by the Minister

of Defence, Mr Mosiuoa Lekota. They were asked to walk 'the extra mile' with the previously disadvantaged students.

After this, six senior Zimbabwean instructors were brought to the flying school in an exchange program.

Mphaka was managed repeatedly with his instructors because he believed that his forefathers indicated that he would not die in a plane crash and consequently he did not need to come to his instructors.

According to Lt Gen Carlo Gagiano, Chief of the Airforce, a psychological evaluation will determine if Mphaka can be accommodated in the airforce.

With reference to Gatenby, Gagiano said that four students had been selected to train in Botswana. As the group had to be representative, two black, one brown lady and Gatenby were chosen. As the Botswana Air wing did not train women, the female student was dropped.

Gatenby seriously objected to being the only white student and that he would have to be more than a year in Botswana without any foreign allowance.

Gagiano said that a recruit was subject to the rules and regulations for foreign deployment when he signed up to the Defence Force.

"It is a problem for us if anyone objects to the wishes of the airforce so early in their career."

"We must carry the consequences if anything happens to him in Botswana and we compelled him to go.

We're looking to see if we can accommodate him further."

"We don't accept people who do not want to follow rules and regulations. A female student pilot had to leave the airforce when she became pregnant, because our rules do not make allowance for that. She knew that."