Hmmmm, no real news here but the timing of the article is interesting.

I have a big problem with Trevor's claim that the CAA staff were at fault for issuing the rating. The way I see it Trevor applied for a rating and the application was fraudulent. Kinda like claiming employment as an 'Associate Professor'.

'S funny that the guy who was head of the accident investigation department at the time claims ignorance of their procedures!!! Now when are we gonna hear from Trevor that he reported all the sheenanigans to himself? Ha Ha.

I read the article and it stated 2 accidents at Rand. Wasn't it the one at Grand Central where the emergency landing gear handle was positioned behind the upholstery and I quote "It was not possible to determine the cause of the electrical failure during the investigation due to interference by the parties concerned" ???? Or was the 2nd accident in the paper really a third????

Well conventional wisdom has is that 1.5% of accidents involving ZS registered aircraft for the period had a single PIC!

Hmmm, on that basis, flying multicrew is extremely dangerous in SA if 98.5% of accidents are down to them ... must be all these funny handshakes going on on SAA flight decks! :) :) :)

I know it is a little late, but news article...

Question: Why were charges withdrawn againts her?

Cape Town - Charges against Nancy Mashamaite, one of the Civil Aviation Authority officials arrested last year in connection with an alleged pilots licence scam, were withdrawn on Monday.

Mashamaite's attorney, Makatso Mokoena, said his client appeared briefly in the Commercial Crime Court in Pretoria.

He said he still did not know exactly what she had been charged with.

"We made a requisition for a charge sheet in terms of the Constitution, and that was not provided to us. That was six months ago," he said.

One person - Louis Maloma, the pilot who first went to the authorities with a claim that he had bought exam papers for his airline transport pilot licence from a CAA official - has been convicted of fraud.

A number of other pilots and officials, including suspended CAA boss Trevor Abrahams, still face trial.

Mashamaite appeared alone in court on Monday.

Could it be because she has agreed to become a State Witness in the trial against Abrahams?

Or a bungle? Mashimate is back at work by the way -- albeit in a slightly different job.

Pretty raw deal if she is innocent which is what we're s'posed to presume if they don't (didn't) charge her.

Any word on Moloma?

My guess is they'll find Moloma close to HBV; perhaps a little wet.

Now someone's been after Esterhuisen which means he must have something capable of sticking.

Quote from The Citizen, 23/1/2001:

"The lengthy delay in the trial of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Trevor Abrahams
for alleged involvement in a pilot licensing scam would prove costly to
taxpayers, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said yesterday.

DA spokesman Stuart Farrow said the case has been remanded until September,
meaning that Abrahams would receive a salary for over a year on suspension.

Abrahams was suspended on full pay in August last year, Farrow said the CAA
board had the findings of a review panel which had investigated various breaches
of aviation regulations.

The panel found that Abrahams did breach aviation regulations by failing to
immediately report the crash landing of a plane he was piloting.

Another panel found in August last year that Abrahams private pilot's license
included an instrument rating which was issued irregularly."


Well now I know where my hard earned tax goes, not to mention my licence renewals!



[This message has been edited by WildFrequency (edited 23 January 2001).]

Well perhaps we can get the Heath Investigation Unit to get to the bottom of
this!

:) :)

Well Themba McClain is still on the b737 roster at SAA. No flights rostered next to his name for the last 6 months or so!! What a job, fully paid and sitting at home.
If he has any sense he will be frantically swotting and practicing his flying skills, so when he returns and has to re-new his licence he might actually know something.
Though what are the chances of that??????

Licence scam pilot convicted

• Isaiah Nombo guilty
• Harris a credible witness
• The magistrate found Nombo not guilty on two charges of corruption, which he said was materially the same as the other corruption charge.
• The state also did not lead evidence or ask for a conviction on a charge of the contravention of the aviation regulations.

The last item is interesting.

Is it not worth naming the Magnificent 8 on this forum? Even if one person cannot name them all, maby a few hints should be dropped, by a few knowledgable ones, about the Magnificent 8's ID to let everyone know who they are and get them the respect and treatment they deserve.

I somehow have my doubts as to whether the justice system will do it !

A further full report:

An SA Airways pilot was on Wednesday convicted in the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court on charges of fraud and corruption relating to the buying of pilot's licence examination papers.

Magistrate Mario Jungbluth found Isaiah Nombo, 42, not guilty on three more charges.

Brandon Harris, formerly an official at the Department of Transport, testified he had sold seven examination papers for the Airline Transport Pilot's licence to Nombo for R7 000, and ensured that the same set of papers was given to him when he wrote the examinations.

When Nombo failed one paper, Harris sold another to him for a further R500, which he passed.

In his evidence, Nombo denied that any such transactions ever happened.

Harris last year pleaded guilty to charges of fraud and corruption relating to the sale of examination papers. He was sentenced to three years' correctional supervision, a year's imprisonment or a R20 000 fine. A further six-year jail sentence was suspended for five years.

Jungbluth said in the light of the fact that Harris had already pleaded guilty and been punished for his role in the matter, there was no reason for him to lie about Nombo's involvement.

He therefore rejected Nombo's version.

The magistrate found Nombo not guilty on two charges of corruption, which he said was materially the same as the other corruption charge. The state also did not lead evidence or ask for a conviction on a charge of the contravention of the aviation regulations.

Nombo's bail was extended until March 1 for sentencing.

What of the rest of them? Has anyone heard of court dates or findings?

Case against CAA chief posponed

Ol' Trev's case pushed back to March the 1st. Beech, I think the info you require is available near the beginning of this thread; if not do a search in African Aviation.

What of the flying Scotsman and the other pilots? Has their case come up yet? Mr Nombo will more than likely be dismissed from SAA now.

I understand that Izzy Nombo was well respected at SA Express and was released on line as a captain with no delay. Obviously there were no flaws from a practical or theoretical point. So he could quite conceivably still be in the same postion at SAA if the truth had not surfaced. Which casts doubt on the rest - who has and has not cheated to further their career? Should we tolerate lapses of judgement - e.g. so called parker-pen hours in your logbook to expedite your professional licence? If a co-pilot at an airline was exposed as having falsifying hours years ago, should he now be dismissed and prosecuted?
I think the important thing to note here, and this is antithesis to what is suggested in the Guvnor´s posting, is any major such as CX, MK or whoever will not allow the misdemenors and dishonesty of the few to cloud the image of those who deserve to be where they are. If corruption was uncovered at UK CAA do we now treat all JAA licences with suspicion? I think not.

Fourpaddles

You asked: The fact of the matter is that SA licences are being treated with suspicion at the moment. The two schools of thought seem to be: either sweep it under the carpet or open the whole can of worms and let justice take its course. I favour the second approach because I feel it's the only way to retain respect for a SA licence in the long term.

Wiz,

With the greatest respect (and I mean this sincerely, not the usual pprune sarcasm), what "can of worms" exactly are you refering to? And this point brings me back to the Guvnor and his unintentional remarks (I hope) at the beginning of this topic.

Please understand that the quote you made from myself was in the context of remarks made by the Guvnor.

Rgds.



[This message has been edited by fourpaddles (edited 08 February 2001).]