A pilot with a fake license for 20 years carried passengers
A pilot with a fake license for 20 years carried passengers.
In November 2018, the airline from South African Airways operated a flight from Johannesburg to Frankfurt. The flight took place normally until the plane fell into the turbulence zone over the Swiss Alps. The liner performed several strange maneuvers. In the end, he landed safely. But these maneuvers attracted the attention of the inspectors and launched an investigation that opened a very unpleasant story.
At that time, the liner was operated by the senior co-pilot William Chandler. He was a very experienced pilot, worked in the airline since 1994 and operated international flights for about 20 years. However, during the inspection, it turned out that he did not have an ATP license, which is required to operate on long-haul international flights. Instead, Chandler had only a commercial license.
He presented forged documents indicating the presence of his ATPL license. It was thanks to this deception that Chandler received highers, salary increases, allowances and overtime. When the truth was revealed, South African Airways said it was a victim of fraud and demanded the return of the illegally received money. A criminal case of fraud was opened against the pilot.
William Chandler
The airline separately stressed that there was no direct threat to flight safety, according to them. Chandler had a valid commercial license, underwent compulsory training and was not the commander of the aircraft on that flight. But the very fact that the pilot worked for decades with fake qualifications, became a serious blow for the carrier.
After the South African Airways scandal, it was decided to check the licenses of all its pilots again, but no new violations were found.