Airlink captain Alistair Freeman was held responsible for a serious plane crash when he nose-dived into a house four years ago.
But his SA Airlink boss said this is "irrelevant" to the Heritage Day crash in Durban.
After the August 2005 crash, Freeman would have been legally grounded for two years. Airlink CEO Rodger Foster said he joined the staff in June last year as a first officer and was recently promoted to captain.
Freeman is in a critical condition
Freeman is in a critical condition after the SA Airlink flight he was commanding crash-landed in the grounds of a Durban school on Heritage Day, seriously injuring first officer Sonja Bierman, flight attendant Rodelle Oosthuizen and Durban Solid
Waste street cleaner Abraham Mthethwa. All are still in intensive care.
Freeman's face is badly injured. "It's going to take quite a long time before he can speak, a long time," said Foster.
Bierman may be transferred to a Joburg hospital soon.
Oosthuizen is in significant pain from spinal injuries and is due to have an operation today, while Mthethwa is stable.
Foster said they were eligible for disability benefits immediately. The airline hopes for their full recovery, but it's possible they may not fly again.
'It's not an uncommon mistake'
A previously unpublicised Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) report uncovered by The Star concluded that pilot error was the "probable cause" of Freeman's 2005 crash, in which he ploughed a twin-engine Britten-Norman Islander charter plane carrying a family, including two children, through the roof of a Durban house.
All six in the plane were injured. The house was empty.
Freeman had multiple fractures and passenger Gerhard Huber dislocated his hip.
Reporting on the probable cause, the CAA said: "The pilot employed an incorrect go-around technique and took inappropriate action during the emergency situation, which aggravated the situation."
It said "prevalent carburettor icing" and Freeman's "lack of experience" with the aircraft type - six of his 950 flying hours - contributed.
In the minutes before the 2005 accident, as he was coming in to land, Freeman told air traffic control that he had engine problems so was going around again. But the accident report later said that the flight and engine controls were "satisfactory", and "both engines performed satisfactorily".
Media reports at the time said Huber alerted Freeman that something was wrong before the plane "veered off course" and crashed through the roof into the living room of Alwyn Field's house.
Yesterday Field, who still lives in his extensively rebuilt house and is now known to his friends as "Airfield", said his insurance paid for the rebuilding and he was told this cost was claimed back from the aviation insurance.
Field expressed sympathy for Freeman. "He's lucky to be alive, poor man. Who survives two air crashes?"
Yesterday, Foster said he wasn't aware of details of that accident and insisted Freeman was a proficient pilot.
"It is irrelevant from our perspective. We don't judge him or select him on the basis of his past history." He confirmed that Freeman would have had to disclose the crash in his CV.
Foster yesterday stressed that the company had a "good idea" of what had caused the Heritage Day crash and maintained that Freeman's earlier crash had "no bearing" on it.
"We have a very good idea of what went wrong and all we're looking for is the corroboration," Foster said.
Airlink is waiting for the data from the two black boxes to be analysed.
Foster said one of the two engines of the 14-year-old SA Airlink aircraft lost power - but did not cut out completely - but that this alone should not have caused the crash.
"It's not a double-engine failure. It's supposed to fly on one engine. Then the question is: why didn't it?
"We have to look at all of the facts surrounding that. We don't have those facts.
"There is a big black hole at the moment. That black hole will be filled by the data that comes out of the black boxes," Foster said.
He said an accident was usually not caused by a single thing but a convergence of several problems.
"But we do not suspect further mechanical failure," he said.
"We think it's simple. We think the outcome will be quickly established."
There have been reports that other pilots saw smoke from one of SA8911's engines and alerted them.
Because the Airlink flight was warned of smoke from an engine, Foster agreed it was possible they turned off the wrong engine in error.
"It's not an uncommon mistake," he said.