Laura Mcdermid - Aftermath of the Engine Fire: Pt 2
AME Doctors Listing
News - South Africa still considering C-390
Boeing vs Airbus 2024
News - Piaggio sold to Turkish UAV Builder
Aviation Consultants Directory
Jannie Matthysen - Living the Dream Part 3
News - SACAA Wins Top Employer Award
Superior Pilot Services: Flight School Directory
Merchant West Charter Directory
Skysource AMO Listing
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A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR:
The airline industry is intensely competitive, with very little other than price and on-timeperformance to differentiate one airline from another.
IT IS ALSO A HIGHLY regulated industry and every few years an airline ‘weaponises’ one of the regulators to attack a competitor. The risk is that this can have a wholly unexpected comeback – which is what is happening in the fight between Lift and Airlink in one corner and FlySafair in the other.
When FlySafair launched in 2014, Comair successfully forced FlySafair to amend its ownership before it could start operations. The amended structure lasted until 2019 when it was discovered that FlySafair’s Irish parent, ASL Aviation Holdings, had quietly undone the original 2014 structure. This had the effect of ASL ending up with an out-of-bounds 74% of FlySafair.
Almost a year ago Airlink and Lift reported FlySafair to the International Air Services Licensing Council (IASLC) and the domestic Air Services Licencing Council (ASLC). Both the IASLC and the ASLC have the power to suspend or cancel airline licences, thus grounding an airline.
FlySafair steadfastly denies that it’s breaking the rules. It claims that the trustees of the ‘Irish trust’ are South African residents. However, legal opinion holds that a trust is a juristic person, in which case, even if the ASL trust is accepted to be a South African resident, FlySafair will still be over the 25% natural person limit.
This whole imbroglio again raises the question of why have a limit on foreign ownership of airlines at all?
FlySafair denies it’s breaking the rules
On 14 January, a meeting with Lift and FlySafair was called by the ASLC. In this meeting, in a wholly unexpected turn of events, the Air Services Licencing Council (ASLC) ruled that “natural persons” resident in South Africa must own at least 75% of the shares in South African airlines. This rules out trusts or companies owning shares in airlines.
If implemented, this ruling will ground almost the entire South African airline industry, notably SAA and Airlink as well as FlySafair. Only CemAir and Lift claim that just natural persons own their shares.
Many countries have no such restrictions, or else require a 51% local shareholding. South Africa’s 25% limit of foreign ownership is particularly constraining.
The key benefit of having foreign ownership is that the all-important airline input of capital – and lots of it – should be cheaper and more readily available. Given the difficulty of attracting capital investment in SA, this must surely be a compelling reason to throw out this whole sorry mess of badly written and unnecessary rules.
And in the meanwhile – the 87% of airline travellers who use FlySafair, Airlink and SAA can only hope that grown-ups will be called in the sort out this playground fight. The consequences of the three airlines being grounded will have huge knock-on effects for the South African economy, and tourism in particular.
PART 1 SERGEANT ABDULLAH
In 1986, I was, surprisingly, quite pleasurably employed in Colonel Gaddafi’s Libya. I was flying for the leading Utility Aviation Company in the world at that time, on contract to an oil field service company, called Schlumberger.
THE PRE-GPS FLYING was challenging and the people I was flying around the desert were fun. Their speciality was to tell you what was down the hole that the drilling boys had dug for you, in your search for oil…if that was the business that you happened to be in at the time.
The equipment they used to do this was built out of expensive metals, like titanium and gold. These tools were designed to withstand the enormous formation pressures which you find hidden at the depths where the hydro-carbons lurk, under the ground. They were right on the cutting edge of sophistication… unlike the aircraft which I had the great pleasure to fly for them.
I discovered something which made my guts shrivel
By no stretch of the imagination could the Pilatus Porter be accused of being sophisticated. Boxy?… yes. Angular?…yes. Eccentric?…most assuredly. Beautiful?...Well, if you were lost in the desert and you had finished the last of the water yesterday and the Grim Reaper was fluttering in and out of your consciousness like a ravenous vulture…very possibly. Loveable?...for me, a definite ‘Yes’. But sophisticated?...a decisive ‘No’.
You probably don’t remember, but it was in April that year that that Ronnie and Maggie tried to ‘get’ Gaddafi, in revenge for the Lockerbie bombing of the Pan Am 747. I was in Libya at the time and, since a lot of the bombers came from the United Kingdom, I felt fairly exposed to any official, (or unofficial, for that matter,) reaction that the Libyan Government might feel it appropriate to take against British subjects, if they could lay their hands on them.
The most extraordinary thing to me about the American raid was that almost the only aircraft which was not destroyed during the Benghazi attack, was the old Pilatus Porter which I had taken there from the desert, for a one-hundred hour inspection. The F-27 to the right of the Porter was burned out and the old expired Caravelle on the other side had one wing broken by the bomblets.
The apron was covered in little fan-shaped excoriations where the bomblets had bounced and then exploded, firing minute shards of shrapnel into the apron. The Porter, however, was not even scratched. I have seen a photo taken from an SR 71, the following day, from flight level God, and you can quite easily pick out the Porter sitting innocently in amongst the wreckage.
Some
A couple of nights after the raid, I was convinced that I had been targeted by American Special Forces. I was sleeping at the Schlumberger base at 103-Alpha, back down in the desert again, after the inspection. They had put me in the comfortable old Maltese-built trailer, set aside for visiting guests and pilots. It had been an early night, after some discussion of our immediate future, in the aftermath of the American raids.
I was abruptly woken, at one o’clock in the morning, by a massive explosion. The initial crash was followed by the thump of falling woodwork and the tinkle of broken glass. I cowered under my flimsy bed linen, expecting the roof to collapse in on me at any moment. A fat lot of good those sheets would have done me, if it had! I even framed the first words I would hurl at the assault troops, as they stormed through my door. “DON’T SHOOT! I’M BRITISH!” A fat lot of good that would have done me too, in the circumstances, but I didn’t have any other offensive weapons to hand, at the time.
Then my nose picked up the pungent and unmistakable aroma of freshly-brewed beer. The threat of attack instantly receded and the cause of the explosion revealed itself. Ralph’s potent ‘Tripple-X’ brew had proved too strong for the ‘Bengashia’ mineral water
bottles into which it had been decanted. Unbeknownst to me, the guest trailer had been designated as a cellar for the storage of the illicit liquor and when two of the crates decided to blow, they took the cupboard doors with them. Powerful stuff, Ralph’s brew!
All this excitement meant that it became more and more difficult to dig out crews who were prepared to put their heads into the Libyan noose. So the company became more and more reluctant to grant leave to the crews who were already on the gallows, so to speak. Eventually, I had been extended for three months over my normal four week tour.
Then I discovered something which made my guts shrivel. The authorities had lost my passport. You cannot leave Libya without an exit stamp. You cannot get an exit stamp without a passport. You cannot get a new passport without an embassy, and Britain had closed up their embassy in Libya, when a young police woman had been shot and killed outside the Libyan Embassy in London. Later investigation established that the bullet had originated inside the embassy itself and so diplomatic relations between the British and Libyan governments were broken off, and the Libyan staff were fairly politely asked to leave.
After the raid, I thought my fate was sealed and that I would be gleefully and probably sadistically arrested, to spend the rest of my few remaining days in the Black Hole of Benghazi, en-celled with the other luckless Brits. There would be no room to sit down until the first hundred or so had demised and their pitiful remains been dragged out to feed the packs of mongrels which skulked around the dungeon, waiting for human tit-bits. What a way to go.
For a time I seriously considered absconding with the Pilatus. The problem with that course of action was that the Pilatus Porter takes for ever to get anywhere. Also, it doesn’t carry quite enough fuel to get you within walking distance of where you would want to go anyway, and because that’s the other side of the Mediterranean, the last bit’s going to be rather wet, unless your initials begins with JC. So another cunning plan would have to be hatched.
Meanwhile I decided to keep my head as low to the ground as a sand viper and hope for the best. Unfortunately, that wasn’t low enough to avoid Sergeant Abdullah, our burly local policeman.
One evening, we were on our way back from the Dowell camp, round the back of the Occidental production facility. We ate with Dowell and slept at the Schlumberger camp. We had enjoyed a comparatively sumptuous dinner, which was lucky, because Sergeant Abdullah stopped us enroute and demanded to see our Desert Passes. The pilots never had Desert Passes, because we were on one-month Business Visas in order to save our company from paying Income Tax on our salaries. To obtain a Desert Pass you had to be in possession of a Residence Permit, and in order to get that, you had to pay Income Tax. So, in other words, all the pilots were flying around the Libyan desert illegally. I was more illegal than most, because, not only did I have no Desert Pass, but my one-month business visa had expired three months before. I had no replacement pilot, so the company could not give me leave, without jeopardizing the contract. Anyway, my passport had disappeared now, so I could not extend my visa, even if I had wanted to.
noticing that he was gently rubbing his hands in anticipation.
“You know I don’t have a Desert Pass, Abdullah.” I said, confident that the crate of home-brewed beer which we had delivered to the police station last Thursday, would ensure my immunity.
My confidence was unfounded. “Then I shall have to detain you, pending regularization of your status, Mr. Pryor.” The teeth gleamed triumphantly beneath the neatly-trimmed moustache. “ Be so kind as to drop Mr. Pryor off at my police station, on your way back, would you, Mr. Marvin?” Marvin was the Party Chief and this evening’s designated driver.
Sgt. Abdullah was the proud proprietor of one detention cell, at ‘his’ police station. This facility was unique in that it had a thriving population of bed-bugs, even though there was no actual bed. A pillow was provided, but, to be honest, I wouldn’t have even touched it with yours. As for food…let’s just say I was glad to have dined so well at Dowell. My next problem would be when the waste products wanted relief.
a thriving population of bedbugs
It wasn’t my first experience of Abdullah’s hospitality. I had had the pleasure on one previous occasion and bail had been paid in beverages, after a couple of days. So presumably the same rules would apply this time, and they did. Abdullah managed to drag my sentence out for three days on this occasion, but finally I was released, just before the Dowell Dinner demanded deliverance.
A couple of weeks later, on our return from the Dowell Diner, Abdullah’s stocks had obviously become depleted and he ambushed us again. This time Marvin tried to negotiate the bail without the custodial sentence, but Abdullah wasn’t having it. “You must drop Pryor at my police station, Mr. Marvin. We will discuss his future with you in the morning.”
This sounded rather ominous to me, and my fears turned out to be justified. After Abdullah had closed and locked the cell door, he paused and turned to me. ”Mr. Pryor,” he said, leaving a prolonged gap for dramatic effect, “I will not be putting you in jail again.”
“No Desert Pass, Mr. Pryor?” said Sgt. Abdullah, exercising the fluent command of the English language which had got him the job in 103-A. I couldn’t help
“Oh, thanks, Abdullah.” I replied, a relieved smile spreading across my face, “Great news?”
“I’m afraid not Mr, Pryor.” Abdullah bowed his head, as if to emphasize the gravity of the situation. “On three occasions now, you have flouted the laws of the Socialist Peoples’ Libyan Arab Republic.” He raised his head and fixed me with a withering stare. “You have become a habitual criminal, Mr. Pryor, and if this infringement of the Desert Pass Regulations occurs again, I will have to refer your case to the Central Criminal Court of the Peoples’ Committee in Tripoli.”
I suddenly realised Abdullah was deadly serious. “The last expatriate who appeared before this committee, for a similar offence, was sentenced to ten years imprisonment. He got out after six, but he was not the same man who had entered that jail six years before. His mind was gone, after the years of deprivation and depravity. He died within two years of his release.”
This was seriously scary stuff. I decided to throw myself on Abdullah’s mercy.
“Abdullah,” I put on my best pleading voice. “We’ve known each other for some time now. You know that I am not a criminal. You know that I am really putting my neck on the line here, in order to help the economy of Libya. It is my company and the demands of the People of Libya which cause me to have to be flexible with the Desert Pass Regulations, not my own personal gain.” I was actually skirting round, pretty close to the truth, in fact. Personal gain had ceased to be part of the equation a couple of months back, even before the American raid, and my flying career would most certainly not be advanced by ten years in a Libyan jail. “What do you suggest that I should do?”
“I suggest, Mr. Pryor, that you go to Tripoli tomorrow morning and sort out your situation before it is taken out of your hands.”
“Thanks for the tip, Abdullah. I will most certainly take your advice.”
Obviously the client was not too happy to have a pilotless, instead of a Pilatus Porter on his hands, but there was no alternative. I scrounged a lift on the Occidental Twin Otter, the next morning and arrived in the Schlumberger office in Tripoli, just in time to call our office in Zürich, before lunch.
“’Morning Eddie.” I greeted our Chief Pilot.
Many Brits were trapped in Lybia after the American attack.
“’Morning Hugh!” came his cheerful reply.
“I’m in Tripoli.”
“Very good, Hugh. How’s everything in Tripoli then?”
“Not very good Eddie. I’m in Tripoli, but the aeroplane is down in the desert.”
“You can’t do THAT, Hugh! Who’s flying the plane?”
“Nobody, Eddie. You have to get someone down here to replace me.”
“No Hugh, I’m afraid that’s not an option at the moment. We have no replacement for you as yet. So you will just have to soldier on for a bit longer.”
“Sorry, Eddie. I have been advised that if I go back to the desert without a Desert Pass again I will be arrested as I have already been three times now, and my case will be referred to the Peoples’ Committee here in Tripoli. I was told that, in all likelihood, I will not then reappear in public for ten years, if ever, and that our company would probably become Personna Non Grata in Libya. So you will HAVE to get someone to replace me anyway.
Eddie paused for some serious brain-storming. “Right, Hugh. I will see if I can get down there myself, tomorrow, and take over from you.”
“That’s my Boy!” I thought out loud, but the task of finding my passport and getting the visa extended without incurring the wrath of the Peoples’ Committee seemed an especially daunting task, particularly in light of the recent American raid.
NEW SEARCH FOR MH370
Ten years after Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 vanished, the Malaysian government has approved yet another search for the missing aircraft.
ON MARCH 8, 2014, MH370, operated by a Boeing 777-200, carrying 239 passengers and crew, departed Kuala Lumpur International Airport en-route to Beijing. However, the aircraft mysteriously vanished from radar screens shortly afterwards.
Malaysia’s Transport Minister Anthony Loke says the government has approved a $70m search on a “no-find, no-fee” basis by US-based marine exploration firm Ocean Infinity. The company will only be paid if the wreckage is located.
Despite extensive efforts, including satellite imagery analysis and underwater searches, the wreckage of MH370 has remained elusive. The initial search
focused on the southern Indian Ocean, based on acquired satellite data and largely driven by Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) analysis. Extensive underwater searches were conducted by multinational teams, including Australia, Malaysia, and China. However the search was suspended in 2018.
The new search area, identified by Ocean Infinity, is based on the latest information and data analyses conducted by experts and researchers. The company has proposed a 15,000 square kilometre area in the southern Indian Ocean for the renewed search.
Ocean Infinity has equipped its advanced autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) with cutting-edge technology, including high-resolution sonar and artificial intelligence capabilities. These technologies will greatly improve the search and increase the chances of finding the wreckage.
The families of the missing passengers and crew have actively advocated for the resumption of the search.
AFTERMATH of the Engine Fire PART 2
Iris McCallum continues her stories about her early years with Air Kenya and this month she shares her recovery in the aftermath of her dramatic engine fire and crash and her subsequent ‘getting back onto the saddle’.
AFTER ALL THE DOCUMENTATION
relating to the crash had been dealt with, my fellow pilot at Air Kenya, Paul de Voest, exerted his natural authority and said, “Okay Cuddles, (Cuddles being the nickname the Air Kenya staff had given me). You’re coming with me.”
Paul must have been just 23 years old and so was younger than me. He was one of the most natural pilots I had ever flown with so we teased him a lot and called him De Verst pilot in da Vorld. Of course in British, and especially British colonial culture, teasing is one of the signs of respect.
Finally Paul said, ‘Okay Cuddles, I’m taking you home now. Tomorrow morning we will do a quick charter to Ol Pejeta and have some fun on the empty return leg.”
teasing is one of the signs of respect.
When I entered the old bar at the Aero Club I received a rapturous welcome. I felt a lightness that I had never felt before. I experienced a beautiful sense of total peace that lasted for six months or so.
I was plied with lots of our lovely Kenya beer, Tuskers, by all and sundry. Fellow pilots touched my shoulders and arms (for good luck they said). We had quite a celebration.
Our Piper Navajo, 5H-IHC, was a delight to fly. Paul took the co-pilot seat and we worked as two crew in harmony. I don’t recall what or who we flew, probably a combination of pax and supplies. Fifteen minutes later we were airborne back to Wilson. Paul was perfect, he didn’t overstress me on my first flight, he just wanted me to land one one single engine. So he closed down the right engine and said, “This will be easy for you, you did one yesterday.”
Sure enough, it was much easier without any flames. Paul was doing a great job helping me get back into the saddle and flying without fear.
I was given a couple of days off and then Paul and I went flying in the Cessna 310R, 5Y-EAR. It was a lovely morning flight to Kisumu on Lake Victoria, very picturesque in the Rift Valley, with the Aberdare Mountains to our right and a glimpse of Mount Kenya.
We dropped our passengers at Kisumu and came back to Wilson empty. Paul got me to do some steep turns, left and right, clean stalls, full flap stalls, slow flight and alternating engine failures. On the return he again gave me a single engine landing to do, only this time he shut down the critical left engine. We had a thoroughly fun time and Paul agreed that I was comfortably back in the saddle.
My logbook shows that on 17 February I flew 5Y-IHC to Entebbe to drop passengers and then return to Wilson. There was no Paul to hold my hand.
that it made, and I kept looking from left to right engine and making sure that all was well. After about 20 minutes out, I noticed that I was losing fuel out of the left fuel cap. I wasn’t taking any chances so called up Nairobi Centre and told them that I was returning to Wilson. I apologised to my passengers in that they were going to be delayed getting to Entebbe, but they didn’t seem to mind.
Our Piper Navajo was a
delight to fly
I did normal preflight checks and engine runs, and all looked good. I took off Runway 07 with a right hand turn out to the north-west. It is such a privilege to fly around Kenya. The magnificent highlands and mountains are a tonic for the soul.
I was very much aware of my aircraft, every sound
The fuel cap was duly fixed, (I think a seal had hardened). This time there was nothing to bother us, the weather was clear on the way there and my passengers arrived in time for lunch.
On the way back to Wilson I climbed to Fl170. We had oxygen on board and no pax and so I took the direct IFR Route A609 Entebbe to GG. It was peaceful up here and I was determined to get over my anxiety of hearing strange noises coming, when there were none. I set up the autopilot, pushed
Paul de Voest & Buster Ray finishing EA Safari Ralley.
PILOTS
back my seat, got out the latest Jilly Cooper novel and never looked back.
I am often asked whether they gave me psychological counselling in those days.
They didn’t, but I was very fortunate in the friends I had. Jill Megson, whose cottage I rented, made sure I was all right and invited me over for many a meal
and a vodka with her three teenage daughters Jacquie, Linda and Wendy to liven things up.
My fellow pilots, Paul de Voest, Buster Ray, Heather Stewart and GK Bayraktur were all steadfast. We were a very tight group and I learned what it means to have a band of brothers and sisters. I was incredibly lucky to be working within a company of caring directors and staff, from baggage handlers to the Chairman.
Captain Paul de Voest welcoming his pax on the Dreamliner.
Paul de Voest accomplished much, as a pilot, and as a rally car driver. He has had an outstanding airline career. He was invited to join Gulf Air and was with them for many years. He became the Training Captain on the A340/330 and B767. He later joined Etihad and spent seven years on the 777 and 787 before taking early retirement. He and his wife Jane now live on the Kenya Coast at Watamu.
I was on the Kenya coast in 2016 when I saw them again. I had been to Tanzania to visit my Mum and family briefly, then on to Nairobi for a memorial service for a great friend, Greg Love. Paul and Jane took me out for dinner and while we were eating my brother phoned to say that my mother had unexpectedly died.
It was a great privilege for me that during two of my life changing moments, first the fire and crash, and then the death of my mother, Paul and Jane de Voest were there to support me. I am very grateful to them.
AME Doctors Listing
SOUTH AFRICA STILL CONSIDERING C-390
Defenceweb reports that South African Air Force (SAAF) representatives were among a high-level government delegation given a tour of Embraer’s facilities in Brazil, including C-390 Millenium and A-29 Super Tucano production lies.
THE DELEGATION COMPRISED key representatives from Denel and the South African Air Force (SAAF). The purpose of the visit was for Embraer to showcase the company’s expertise in aeronautical technology, design, assembly and support. The visit included presentations about the company, as well as tours of the assembly lines for commercial and defence aircraft such as the C-390 Millennium airlifter and the A-29 Super Tucano trainer/ light attack aircraft. Representatives from the SAAF also explored training facilities, including flight simulators.
“This comprehensive tour provided an opportunity to build strong relationships and explore the potential for establishing industrial partnerships,” Embraer told defenceWeb after the visit.
“The SANDF has shown interest in the C-390 Millennium, as it advances in the necessary steps for the selection of the much needed strategic lift capability for the SANDF,” the company said following AAD 2024.
expertise in aeronautical technology
Embraer has given South Africa a number of opportunities to evaluate the aircraft over the past years, first bringing it to South Africa in November 2023, when it was evaluated by the SAAF as well as various government departments. Embraer believes the C-390 is ideal for firefighting, disaster relief, humanitarian assistance and other tasks South Africa needs to accomplish.
Embraer showcased the C-390 aircraft at the Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) exhibition, held at Air Force Base Waterkloof from 18 to 22 September, presenting the aircraft and its capabilities to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, and Minister of Defence Angie Motshekga. Embraer said the multimission military transport aircraft fully meets the needs of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) as well as other government departments.
In April 2024, Embraer officials met with the South African National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) to explain the aircraft’s use for missions such as fire-fighting and humanitarian airlift. South Africa has experienced multiple natural disasters in recent years – including fires and floods – while the SAAF is in need of transport aircraft to support its international peace mission obligations.
Embraer said the C-390 could easily take on missions for the South African National Defence Force, the
Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, as well as the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs. These range from the transport of freight, personnel and vehicles for peace keeping operations to special operations, humanitarian support, medical evacuation, search and rescue, maritime surveillance, fire fighting, air to air refuelling, and disaster management.
“This aircraft is currently the most modern and high performing in its category,” Embraer said, adding that it can operate from austere airfields to carry out a wide variety of missions.
The Embraer C-390 rendered in SAAF livery.
Since its entry into service with the Brazilian Air Force in 2019, the C-390 has carried out numerous humanitarian aid and medical evacuation missions, saving thousands of lives. On a daily basis, the C-390 Millennium transports soldiers, personnel, supplies, and both civilian and military vehicles, a capability highly valued for peacekeeping missions and disaster management. More recently, the C-390 has contributed to environmental protection in Brazil by fighting wildfires in the Pantanal region, dropping up to 11 tons of water per pass over the fires.
“Additionally, both nations rely on the Swedish designed Saab JAS-39 Gripen fighter jet, which is capable of air-to-air refuelling for the protection of their national airspace. This makes the C-390 Millennium an even more relevant and practical choice for the South African Air Force, offering not only cutting-edge capabilities but also enhancing the interoperability with Brazilian Air Force.”
the most modern and high performing
This tactical transport aircraft is capable of being refuelled in flight, allowing it to cover long distances at Mach 0.8 or undertake extended missions. It can also perform air to air refuelling missions for other aircraft thanks to special pods installed on its wings.
“It is interesting to note that South Africa shares many similarities with Brazil, particularly in terms of geography and operational needs. Both countries have vast territories with remote and often challenging environments, including large forested areas and numerous austere airfields,” Embraer said.
“Beyond its versatility, reliability, and top-tier performance, which make it the best aircraft in its category, the C-390 also offers very attractive operating and maintenance costs. These qualities explain the growing commercial success of this mission-proven aircraft with numerous clients, including Sweden, South Korea, Portugal, Brazil, Hungary, Austria, and the Netherlands to replace their legacy aircraft,” Embraer concluded.
The C-390 has been selected by many nations to replace their C-130 Hercules fleets – the C-390 can fly nearly twice as fast as the C-130, and carries a greater payload (26 tons versus around 20 tons). For the South African Air Force, the C-390 would enable faster and more efficient transport of troops and equipment to places like the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the SANDF has peacekeepers deployed.
BOEING VS AIRBUS 2024
In 2024 Boeing delivered 180 fewer commercial aircraft than 2023 after a year which began with the door plug failure on an Alaska Airline 737-9 Max.
BOEING HAS REPORTED that for the year 348 passenger jets were delivered to customers and there were just 57 in the last quarter. This compares to 2023 when a total of 528 commercial airliners were delivered, with 157 delivered in the final quarter.
Rival Airbus reported that it had delivered 766
commercial aircraft during 2024. Airbus described 2024 as ‘good year’ despite missing delivery target. It delivered 766 commercial aircraft to 86 customers during 2024 and reported 878 gross new orders.
In July 2024 Airbus reduced its delivery target for the year from 800 planes to around 770, citing the shortage of engines and other key components.
After the Alaska Airlines incident on January 5, 2024, the US plane maker’s quality control suffered enormous damage to its long cherished reputation. The FAA launched a far-reaching investigation and limited aircraft production numbers. The head of the FAA Mike Whitaker said in December 2024 that “enhanced oversight” of Boeing is “here to stay”. Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun was replaced by Kelly Ortberg.
As of January 2024, Boeing was producing 38 737 Max jets per month. This rate was capped by the FAA due to safety concerns. Boeing’s goal is to increase production to 50 737 Max jets per month. Boeing has said it aims to return to its pre-strike production rate in 2025 and triple its current rate by 2027. However, the company has faced supply chain and manufacturing issues for over two years.
The American OEMs troubles were compounded when 30,000 workers went on strike for sevenweeks in September 2024 over pay and employment conditions. The recovery was protracted as, when workers returned to work, Boeing spent a month poststrike making sure the necessary safety steps were taken before restarting production.
The damage was not just to the platemaker’s backlog of deliveries but Boeing also saw its orders fall catastrophically 60% in 2024 with 1,456 secured in 2023 and only 569 in 2024.
Airbus CEO Christian Scherer said: “2024 confirmed sustained demand for new aircraft. We won key customer decisions with most important customers and saw phenomenal momentum for our widebody orderbook, complementing our leading position in the single aisle market. On deliveries, we kept our trajectory and celebrated several landmark firsts. These include the first ever A321XLR as well as first A330neo and A350 deliveries to several customers globally.”
To have achieved Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury’s delivery target for the year, the planemaker would have needed to deliver 127 aircraft in December 2024. However, it reports only 123 delivered. In comparison, in 2023, Airbus reached its yearly target of 720 deliveries, with 112 aircraft delivered in December 2023.
During 2024, 604 A320 family aircraft were delivered, followed by 75 A220 family aircraft, 57 A350 family aircraft and 32 A330 family aircraft.
PIAGGIO SOLD TO TURKISH UAV BUILDER
Baykar, a Turkish company specializing in unmanned aircraft, has received approval from the Italian Ministry of Enterprises to acquire Piaggio
Aerospace, manufacturer of
turboprop.
OF NOTE TO BAYKAR as a UAV builder, Piaggio devoted significant resources to developing the P.1HH “Hammerhead” an unmanned special-missions derivative of the P.180 Avanti for long-endurance intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
The “Hammerhead” name is a reference to the basic Avanti design, which includes a small forward wing, sometimes incorrectly called a “canard.” The Avanti’s is technically a “three-surface” configuration. The forward wing is technically not a canard since, unlike canard aircraft such as the Rutan LongEze, pitch control is achieved primarily through normal tailmounted surfaces.
Piaggio’s corporate lineage dates back to 1884 as an early motor vehicle manufacturer. The company produced its first aircraft in 1915.
Since the development of the Avanti in the 1980s, Piaggio’s ownership has seen a long string of changes, starting in 1998 with another Turkish business entity, a holding company known as Tushav.
Piaggio was acquired two years later by a group headed by Jose DiMasi and Piero Ferrari of the famous Italian carmaker family.
Control shifted to Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Development company, and in 2018, Piaggio entered Italian receivership with the proceedings to be controlled by an Extraordinary Commissioner.
In 2020, the company was officially listed for sale with final approval of a buyer to be overseen by the appointed commissioner
While Baykar notes the acquisition will “expand its influence in the European aviation market,” the company also indicates a commitment to retaining Piaggio as an Italian company. Italian Minister Adolfo Urso said, “After six years of waiting, we are giving Piaggio Aerospace, a strategic asset for our country, a future with a long-term production perspective, safeguarding corporate complexes and workforce.”
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VIO Aviation 083 230 7821
Mont Blanc Financial Services 0800 467 873
PRETORIA
Ardent Aviation 082 784 0510
www.vioaviationsolutions.co.za a a a a a
www.mbfs.co.za a
www.ardentaviation.co.za a a a yolanda@ardentaviation.co.za
Vektor Aviation 012 247 5010
CAPE TOWN
Litson and Associates (Pty) Ltd
+27(0)21 851 7187
safety@litson.co.za NATIONAL
+27 87 703 1062
iTOO
www.vektoraviation.co.za a
www.litson.co.za *FSF BARS/IOGP/IATA/ICAO/CAP 437
www.itoo.co.za a 0861 767 778
HELICOPTERS
JANNIE MATTHYSEN
HEADING OFFSHORE
Part 3: Living the Dream
It’s still dark outside and I’ve already worked up a sweat. We’ve been busy for almost two hours and have not yet made it to the helicopter for our scheduled flight.
Two pre-dawn hours are spent preparing the big
Sikorsky for flight.
MY FELLOW PILOT and I have completed an extensive systems check, and we are confident that our Sikorsky S-92 is up to the task of taking us and our unsuspecting passengers more than 200 miles offshore into the Gulf of Mexico and safely back again.
Our flight plans have been filed, all paperwork reviewed, signatures placed in all the appropriate places, weather checked and doublechecked, and final “pitstops” made. Our passengers are being prepared for flight in another part of the sprawling flight operations complex. We’re almost ready to go!
either right or left seat and all our crews are trained and qualified to do both. Typically, the pilot in the right-hand seat flies outbound, while the pilot in the left-hand seat manages checklists, radio work, and all other tasks required to be accomplished on our iPads.
ATC sounds like an auctioneer
The S-92, as a two-pilot helicopter, can be flown from
The left-seater is also responsible for closing the rear cargo ramp, removing chocks, and closing the cabin door. These responsibilities are reversed for the inbound flight while each pilot remains in the same seat. Individual roles are typically decided by the crew on the day, but the company assigns the Pilot in Command for each flight. Clear as mud initially, but the arrangement works well once each pilot is accustomed to the expectations in each role.
The oil platofrm is 200 nm away over varying weather.
HELICOPTERS
The helicopter spends a tense 20 minutes on the helideck. Note the firefighter on standby.
One crew after another trickle out of the planning room to the flight line as they receive confirmation that their passengers are ready. Our call should come soon. We have thirteen passengers for our outbound flight today, and we know that the aircraft has been refuelled and baggage loaded in accordance with the flight manifest.
Right now the passengers should be in one of the briefing rooms where they are given a detailed preflight safety briefing and handed their life jackets for the flight. The men and women who work offshore in the oil & gas industry are very familiar with safety protocols, emergency procedures, PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and preparing for worstcase scenarios. A routine helicopter flight represents just one more dimension of risk in this hazardous profession with the ever-present preparedness for ditching offshore.
We receive an electronic message on our iPads that our passengers are finally ready for the flight and we march out into the warm morning air to our S-92 on the flight line. It’s hot, and one of our primary tasks is to fire up the APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) that allows us to prepare all aircraft systems for flight, but more importantly, powers the air conditioning unit.
It works gloriously well, and our cabin and cockpit will be pleasantly cool before we allow passengers to embark. This also gives us a few minutes to consult ATIS for the latest airport weather, obtain our departure clearance and program our FMSs for our planned routes and IFR departure procedures. The weather forecast promises a pleasant day, devoid of any major activity, but there has been some rain overnight with cloudy remnants of those storms still drifting around. We will be flying a SID (Standard Instrument Departure) before adjusting course to our offshore destination.
Passengers are brought to the flight line in what can only be described as a ‘stretch limo golf cart.’ These things scurry around the flight line all day, and some even tow a small trailer for baggage and cargo.
Ground crews corral our passengers on board. The cargo ramp and cabin doors are closed and we start both engines and engage the rotor system for the first time today. This is when the helicopter really comes alive, and our excitement levels invariably raise a bar or two. Deafening noise, vibration, blinking lights, and thousands of bridled horsepower are all poised at our command as we taxi to the runway.
Our flight is scheduled to depart a little later than the other flights, and it appears that we’ve managed to avoid the early morning rush of IFR departures. The airport is busy, and the air traffic controller sounds like an auctioneer. I strain to understand his southern drawl. No doubt he is experiencing similar issues with my South African accent as he has only heard Charlize, Trevor and Elon with their Americanised accents.
Our two General Electric CT7-8A engines collectively produce more than 5,000 horsepower, and to say that climb performance is impressive borders on understatement. Upon initial climb, we reduce engine power to bring performance to a manageable level and we slowly accelerate beyond our Vy (Best Rate of Climb speed) of 80kts to settle at around 100kts and 1,000 feet per minute for the cruise climb. We need a
BUMPPPFFF:
little over 70% power to accomplish that while loaded close to our maximum weight of 26,500 lbs.
Today, we will be flying outbound at 3,000 feet as headwinds only increase at higher levels. Our return flight at 6,000 feet should yield a healthy tailwind, which will propel us to a groundspeed of around 165kts. Fun!
Pakistan Airlines ad shows plane flying into the Eiffel tower.
And then so did a Qantas ad!
SACAA WINS TOP EMPLOYER AWARD
The
South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA)
has been recognised as a Top Employer for 2025 by
the Top Employers Institute.
THE SACAA says the Top Employers Institute conducted a rigorous evaluation process, assessing the SACAA’s human capital practices. The comprehensive assessment required the aviation regulator to provide extensive data and evidence of its human capital strategies, which was validated through an in-depth review of the organisation’s practices.
The process not only reviewed SACAA’s practices but also measured their impact and consistency across the organisation.
“We are incredibly proud of this achievement. It reflects our unwavering commitment to creating a world-class work environment, fostering growth, and offering continuous opportunities for development for all our employees,” said the SACAA Board Chairperson, Mr Ernest Khosa.
“This certification also reinforces the SACAA’s dedication to fostering an inclusive and collaborative work culture based on diversity, equity, and inclusion. It highlights the SACAA’s success in creating an environment where employees feel valued, empowered, and inspired,” Khoza added.
The SACAA’s Director of Civil Aviation, Ms Poppy Khoza, expressed her appreciation, saying: “Our commitment goes beyond simply serving the people of South Africa through aviation regulatory oversight. Just as the SACAA strives to be the best regulator for the public, we see ourselves at service to our employees. We work hard to create a healthy, supportive work environment where the employees’ wellbeing are prioritised, allowing them to deliver the highest possible service. When our employees feel valued and cared for, they are in the best position to serve the people of South Africa.”
