Sefofane frequently operates aircraft in an environment that is foreign to many people. The nature of our operation dictates that we regularly operate aircraft in and out of remote and unprepared airstrips. Many of these airstrips are also in areas with high concentrations of wildlife. These factors pose safety concerns over and above those found at normal major airports. Safety for our guests and staff is our prime consideration and working with these constraints is our challenge. There are many things we do to make our operation safe.
Over the last 12 years we have constantly reviewed and improved our safety practices and the result has been a fine safety track record. Safety issues can be broken down into several main components: the pilot, the aircraft and the airstrips.
We believe that there is no substitute for having the right people in our organisation. Our pilots are a critical part of Sefofane and we choose them with care. Sefofane is privileged to fly into some of the most pristine wilderness destinations in the world. We also believe flying is an integral part of a guest's holiday experience and therefore our pilots need to have a fundamental enthusiasm for being in such areas.
All our pilots are passionate about their jobs and are with Sefofane because they want to be in wilderness areas. We believe that pilots who are in tune with their environment will be safer pilots. It is true many pilots move through Sefofane on their way to airlines, some also stay and pursue careers in our operation. Whatever the case, we spend time selecting and training our crews to ensure that safe practices are always followed.
All Sefofane applicant pilots follow the same rigorous entrance process. When Sefofane is recruiting pilots, we normally advertise in Maun or Windhoek. All applicant Resumes are scrutinized carefully. Suitable applicants write a series of tests which ask questions that are both technical and of a personal nature.
Only successful applicants are interviewed by both management and other pilots. After that, successful applicants are employed on a probationary basis for training. During their probation period, pilots are given a ground school and 100 hours of flight training. At any time during this training period, pilots who do not meet our standards are removed from our program. During the program our new crew are taught the skills required to enable them to go on line with enough experience to be fully confident in themselves and their equipment. This program is overseen by training captains who themselves have many years and thousands of flying hours of experience.
Pilots who successfully completed our training program go on line after a final route check. But the training does not end there. Indeed a pilot's training never ends. Regular and routine flight tests are conducted to ensure that all crew are proficient in all aspects of their flying all the time. Typically pilots stay with Sefofane in Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe for two years. Our more successful crew stay longer and graduate onto our larger aircraft, the Cessna Caravans which they also normally fly for two years.
Sefofane South Africa has opened new opportunities for pilots and some pilots migrate from Namibia and Botswana back to South Africa to operate our more sophisticated aircraft, the King Air 200 and Pilatus PC-12. Many flights from South Africa visit neighboring countries. There is no better crew for the job than those who have lived in the countries of destination. Our crew have good local knowledge of most of the areas we fly into and they understand the safety issues of each area well.
Sefofane operates a wide variety of aircraft. Different aircraft are best suited to different applications. Because each country has a different set of operating constraints, different aircraft are employed in each region.
Detailed specifications of the principle aircraft types operated by Sefofane are listed in the aircraft section of this website. Sefofane does operate other aircraft types on a smaller scale. These aircraft types are: Cessna 310, Cessna 402, Beechcraft Baron, Piper Seneca. All Sefofane aircraft are maintained regularly and in accordance with the manufacturers requirements. We have also developed some maintenance practices over and above the normal requirements as a result of our specific operating environment.
The net result is that we believe that our aircraft are in tip top condition.
Some of the things we do: