Aviation Industry Lacks Local Pilots, Engineers (Flight School - allafrica)

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The Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) Director General Mr. Fadhili Manongi said that at the moment local pilots and engineers make only 40 per cent of the total requirement while the remaining 60 per cent come from outside the country.

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Speaking on Wednesday at the aviation operational safety roundtable discussion, Mr Manongi said that the government has to take the responsibility of training local aviation experts as it is very expensive for the locals to privately sponsor themselves.

"The industry is facing a shortage of pilots and it raises the costs of operating aircrafts. We therefore recommend starting our own school with the intention of training pilots and engineers for the growing industry," Mr Manongi noted. He also said that the industry lacked adequate inspectors as currently there are only 13 while the requirement is 18.

He mentioned financial constraints as one of the factors leading to such shortages, however, he noted that the authority has sent three inspectors to undertake a six- month training course overseas at a cost of 300m/-. However, the TCAA director's statement was refuted by Mr Ahmed Rashid, who emotionally claimed that his version of the situation does not reflect reality.

Mr Rashid, an unemployed pilot, said that there are about 40 trained and qualified pilots who are still searching for jobs to no avail. He said that he has been searching for a job for two years without any success. "It is not true that there is a shortage of local pilots, there about 40 qualified pilots here all in search of jobs. It comes as a surprise that the director of TCAA should say that the jobs are offered to foreigners.

"They reject us on the pretext that we lack experience but this is not fair because where do they expect us to get experience from? They just favour foreigners," he said. Earlier, Chief Inspector of Air Accidents, Mr John Nyamwihura, said that in Tanzania, plane crashes have greatly declined compared to other countries.

For instance, he said, from 2010 there had been only five occurrences that could be described as runway excursion accidents and in all occurrences there was only one serious injury and no fatalities.

Ms Eva Jackson from Tanzania Air Operators' Association (TAOA) challenged TCAA and other authorities in the industry to ensure transparency in reporting operational safety noting that it was difficult to take safety seriously in Tanzania without addressing the shortcomings.

Presenting on the safety oversight, the Chief Airworthiness Inspector, Mr Makhiid Towillo said that the only way to ensure flights operational safety was to have thorough investment in qualified and well trained personnel in the industry.