Flying into turbulence
Numbers presented in parliament do not reveal the true extent of aircraft and crew shortages
When fires raged around Simon’s Town in December it was the Working on Fire helicopter crews who battled the flames by repeatedly dropping buckets of water on them.
A lone Oryx helicopter of the South African Air Force (SAAF) joined briefly, but had to withdraw because of technical problems. Its only serviceable replacement was an Oryx at 17 Squadron in Pretoria, which was on VIP duty. It was allowed to fly to Cape Town, which resulted in the crew having to sacrifice Christmas celebrations as more fires followed.
The woes of the SAAF — its crew, budget and aircraft limitations — are not new. But in reply to a recent question by the DA’s Kobus Marais in parliament, defence minister Thandi Modise said the air force is obliged “to train pilots and flight engineers in accordance with international aviation standards”. She said maintaining these levels can be achieved only if aircraft are serviceable and available.
Yet a few months ago, she said about 85% of the aircraft are unserviceable. This led to a question of how it’s possible for crews to maintain currencies (their current competence) if they do not fly.
Modise said there are 320 pilots, seven student pilots and 73 flight engineers. She did not give the status of their currencies or certifications, which lapse when they fly infrequently. She also did not say how many are current and qualified commanders — and no aircraft with a crew can fly without a commander.
An air force has complicated machines that need to be maintained, and those operating them need to be kept happy. Air crew salaries were adapted about a year ago. Some allowances were added; most flight engineers received technical and flying allowances. The technical allowance was added to salaries, but the flying allowance was cut. Pensions are based on the total salary.
Most of the air force helicopters cannot fly without a flight engineer on board.
Engineers who are willing to fly without receiving allowances spend most of their time in Mozambique or the Democratic Republic of Congo. The rest have medical conditions, such as stress, that render them unfit to operate outside South Africa.
There is also a shortage of commanders. There are only about 15 for the Oryx and four for the BK 117 utility helicopter, and even fewer medically fit flight engineers. And there is a shortage of technical staff responsible for keeping the helicopters serviceable within budget constraints. Denel Aeronautics’ contract with the air force lapsed in September.
Denel does not procure spares for long-term use, and neither does the air force. Denel is the only service provider that can do advanced servicing on the Oryx and the Rooivalk attack helicopters, because it holds the manufacturing licences, but it services aircraft only when money is paid upfront.
The Oryx helicopter that withdrew from firefighting had a problem with its main rotor head and remains unrepaired. According to Marais, Denel has not had a request for a serviceable rotor head.
Denel does not have money to order spares to complete servicing rotor heads. There is also no courier contract to send a replacement head to Cape Town. Because of this, aircraft have been cannibalised and many, including the Oryx, that have been sent to Denel cannot be serviced because too many components are missing.
According to Modise’s figures, severance packages offered to pilots and flight engineers since last year have led
to more personnel leaving, especially technical ones, adding to the number of those who resigned or whose contract had ended. There are now 1,000 vacant posts. The pilots who are left are in senior positions and very junior ones, some with only a few hours’ flying experience.
There are 33 trainees earmarked to become student pilots of the SAAF, but they are still in ground school. This, and their “flight training”, may take months even years but they are included in the number of pilots on paper. On a good day there might be seven
Pilatus trainer aircraft available.
A handful of crews are working themselves to the bone to cope with the number of aircraft that break down. Even 21 Squadron, which carries VVIPs, until recently had only one Falcon 50 flying. The presidential Boeing, Inkwazi, and others were waiting for spares.
According to Modise, across all aircraft the minimum annual flying hours to maintain crew currencies or certification is 12,519. The defence department’s 2022/2023 annual report says the total number of flying hours clocked was 12,059 5,100 fewer than in 2021/2022. Indications are that the total will be well below the minimum this financial year, but that was not included in Modise’s response to Marais. She stated only the air force’s obligation to train pilots to international standards, omitting anything about the ability to maintain them.
So the aircraft carcasses are there for the show in numbers on paper and so are the crew statistics. The reality is vastly different.
Denel does not procure spares for long-term use, and neither does the air force