South African national airline fires unlicensed pilot
Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – South African Airways (SAA) on Friday confirmed that a senior pilot was fired after it was found that he had flown commercial aircraft for more than 20 years with a fake aviation licence.
The airline began investigating veteran William Chandler after it was alerted to a “reportable incident” on a long-haul over Switzerland earlier this year.
Flight SA206 was enroute from Johannesburg OR Tambo International Airport to Frankfurt, Germany, when the incident occurred. It is unclear what happened, but Chandler who was serving as the co-pilot for the duration of the flight was at the the controls at the time of the incident.
SAA spokesperson Tlali Tlali said the airline is obtaining legal advice to recoup Chandler’s “illegal” salary.
In partnership with SA Express, SA Airlink and its low-cost carrier, Mango, SAA flies to 56 destinations in South Africa, continental Africa and around the world using a fleet of 47 aircraft.
-0- PANA CU/MA 1March2019
