Using fake license to fly passenger plane for 20 years, South African pilot arrested

News24xx.com - A South African pilot who has been working for South African Airways (SAA) for 20 years was arrested on Monday, March 11th 2019 for allegedly flying a plane with a fake license. AFP reported that the pilot named William Chandler was arrested by the police after being forced to resign for flying a plane without proper permission. "His lawyer handed him to the police this morning" said South African police spokesman Vishnu Naidoo.

Naidoo said that Chandler was charged with forgery and ordered to attend the trial on May 15th. SAA stated that Chandler previously claimed to have a Transport Aircraft Pilot License, the permit documents needed to fly large passenger aircraft.

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But apparently, Chandler only has a commercial pilot permit that only allowed him to fly small planes. SAA did not reveal how long Chandler had been worked with the fake permit, the type of aircraft used, and the number of passengers. However, according to local media reports, Chandler has been worked at SAA since 1994.

Chandler has been under SAA's supervision since last November, when the plane he was carrying to Germany suffered severe turbulence and he had to carry out dangerous maneuvers. All of the cabin crews on that plane including the pilots were then prohibited from flying and were required to follow the evaluation process. That's when the facts regarding the fake permit were revealed.

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