[This is funny. Affirmative Action does not work so well WHEN SKILL AND COMPETANCE IS A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH!!! At least two black pilots have died in the last 2-3 weeks in flying accidents. The other incident, not mentioned here, is when a Police helicopter on a training flight fell out of the sky on to someone’s house. Both occupants of the helicopter were killed.

Note below, how the White instructors are accused of being “racist”, when in fact, they are complaining about the competancy of the pilots. Apparently there are lots of black pilots currently being trained, and a large number of them are women.

Maybe… some of us should consider not flying SAA (South African Airways) in the future when all these new pilots come on line? As I mentioned in a previous article, Africa, with only 3% of the world’s planes accounts for between 10-50% of the world’s total fatalities. Jan]

Pretoria – “Flight standards should not be lowered because I want my wings to enjoy the same recognition as those before me.”

These were the words of a young black pilot posted on an internet chat site on Monday. He was reacting to the plane crash at the weekend that claimed the life of a trainee pilot in the air force, lieutenant Oupa Jean-Claude Ramaiti, 24.

“Let my brothers always remember that it is a gift to share the sky with birds. We have to respect each other and (respect) the power of nature.

“In light of the sombre reminder of the danger involved in the creation of statistics only to keep politicians happy, let us all stop and remember that no one’s life needs to be lost just to achieve a political goal.

“In fact, the only statistic that came about through this accident, is of the kind politicians should be embarrassed about.”

Ramaiti died after the Pilatus Astra training aircraft he was flying crashed outside Lichtenburg in the North West. He was on a navigation flight and was expected to get his wings within the next two months.

Wake-up call

At the time of the accident, Ramaiti was repeating his course after failing previous tests. The crash came after air force instructors warned on a number of occasions that it was just a matter of time before the trainee pilot, who had no sense of flying, would crash.

It is common knowledge that because of affirmative action, black prospective pilots have more opportunities to qualify. Moreover, white air force instructors have been publicly accused of racism.

Meanwhile, on the same internet chat site, another pilot said it was fine to lower standards and make tests easier. “But that person is going to write off a very expensive plane, kill him- or herself and a bunch of innocent passengers in the process – just because of a political decision taken at the time of his/her training.”

“How many more pilots have to be killed in a crash before the government realises that this is not a racial issue but a safety issue?” another pilot wanted to know.

“Condolences to Oupa’s family, but let his death be a wake-up call to everyone.”

Source: News24.Com
URL: http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/New…/p>