Hawks reserved for Black pilots

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

Affirmative action will ensure that the top three student pilots in the airforce will not get the chance to qualify as fighter pilots on the brand new Hawk aircraft.

This right is reserved for four black students because the fighter line in the airforce is totally under represented.

This was how Lt Gen Carlo Gagiano, Chief of the Airforce, explained the latest storm affecting the student pilots at Central Flying School Langebaanweg this past week.

"We have no other choice. We are obliged to adhere to government's policy of affirmative action.

"We have Colonels who cannot be promoted to Generals because of the policy. It's a sign of the times."

Approximately 50 students at the flying school underwent their streaming choice. Traditionally the top students have the choice where they want to go and choose to be fighter pilots, but they can also choose between helicopter and transport plane flying.

According to Gagiano, this will not be the first time that the top students will not go to the fighter line. Both the instructors and the students at the flying school are disturbed.

"The Hawk is one of the most advanced aircraft that a student will have access to for a long time. A person cannot take chances. The guys worked incredibly hard just so that they could fly the new aircraft.

One of the Black students that must now go fly the Hawk would rather not" an instructor told Beeld.

Gagiano said that fighter aircraft was the first choice for three of the four students, while it was the second choice for another. He acknowledged that one of the four had already failed, but he was allowed to continue because of under representation.

"We must first look at the airforces' requirements before we can take into account the individuals choice.

One of our most successful Black fighter pilots (Maj Musa Mbokhota, who is part of the Gripen fighter program) was initially not chosen for the fighter line. He was upset over that. One of the students later failed and Musa got his chance."

The latest disturbance with the students training comes a week after a student was hauled over the coals because he refused to undergo his training with the Botswana Defence Force Airwing. This agreement was in order to further the cooperation between the countries of Southern Africa and because fo the shortage of flying instructors at the school. Four Zimbabwean airforce instructors are already providing training at the school.