Fuel shortage grounds air force

The fuel supply at the Waterkloof Air Force Base is so low that fuel had to be borrowed for some flights recently undertaken by President Thabo Mbeki.

Only certain VIP, emergency and emergency maintenance flights can be undertaken. Training flights have been limited to the bare minimum to maintain the pilots' licences, while most of them spend their time on the ground. It has been learnt that there were only 35 000 litres of fuel in the bunkers at Waterkloof last week. A big cargo plane such as the Hercules C-130 can be refuelled only four times with 35 000 litres. The VIP squadron, which transports Mbeki and other ministers, is the only one that can go ahead with most of its duties. However, even then crew have had to wait on occasion until a private aviation company refuelled the Falcon 900.

The shortage is expected to restrict the number of flights even more within the next two months as no relief is expected for the rest of the financial year, which ends in March. The air force has denied that the situation has reached crisis proportions or that its effectiveness is being compromised. A spokesperson said it was already apparent at the beginning of the financial year that the allotted defence budget would create shortages in the air force. This had resulted in the air force not being able to execute its business plan for the year, said the spokesperson. One of the most important commodities to be affected was aircraft fuel, he added.

The spokesperson said the flight hours had to be planned down to the last detail and he thought the projected hours for the year would be reached. However, information in Beeld's possession indicates that the hours were cut by 20 percent a squadron in the middle of last year and in November. The shortages affect almost all the light, cargo and passenger aircraft of the air force as well as helicopters.

In certain cases, pilots had already started flying for other companies to increase their hours. Some have official permission to fly for other companies as there is no work for them in the air force. Some fly more in a month than they did in the past year in the air force. Pilots said they were disheartened and their future in the air force was bleak. Most of them were making plans to leave the air force. The air force said emergency flights within South Africa could still be undertaken. If disasters happened, though, such as the floods in Mozambique in the past few years, additional funds were transferred from outside the army. The irregular use of aircraft can affect their long-term serviceability. The air force did not comment on whether it expected relief from the forthcoming budget. It was also mum on what would be done to motivate pilots to stay on.

Beeld