A pilot, William Chandler who has flown international flights with fake from South African Airways (SAA) after flying for more than 20 years with a fake licence.
South African Airways said it discovered William Chandler’s paperwork was forged after a “reportable incident” during a flight from South Africa to Germany. The airline has filed criminal charges and is seeking “millions of rand” from Mr Chandler.
A safety officer at SAA has also been suspended for allegedly trying to cover up the forgery. South African newspaper the Mail & Guardian (M&G) reported that Chandler worked as a flight engineer at the state-owned SAA before getting a job as a pilot in 1994.
He was a Senior First Officer, a role where he was a monitoring pilot but did not command any aircraft. Sources told the M&G that he was, however, in control of a plane that “made some strange turns” after encountering turbulence over the Swiss Alps.
SAA said in a statement that, after investigating the incident, it found Mr Chandler had only a commercial pilot’s licence. He later resigned.
Airlines require pilots to have an airline transport pilot licence (ATPL) for long-haul international flights. For an ATPL, pilots must pass several technical and medical exams and complete 1,500 hours of flying time.
Licence-holders must “refresh” their credentials every year in a series of tests involving flight simulations and physical exams. The certificates are awarded in South Africa by the country’s civil aviation authority (SACAA).
Hey just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The text in your content seem to be running off the screen in Safari. I’m not sure if this is a format issue or something to do with internet browser compatibility but I thought I’d post to let you know. The style and design look great though! Hope you get the problem resolved soon. Cheers|
certainly like your web site however you have to check the spelling on quite a few of your posts. Many of them are rife with spelling issues and I in finding it very troublesome to inform the reality nevertheless I’ll surely come again again.|
This is a great tip especially to those fresh to the blogosphere. Brief but very precise information… Appreciate your sharing this one. A must read post!