Hero pilot takes to the sky for another Covid mission
‘I’m doing what I’m doing to save lives’
Two months after flying an SAA flight on a historic mission to repatriate South Africans from a Chinese city that was the epicentre of Covid-19 last year, Capt Vusi Khumalo spent nine months grounded, unable to fly anywhere, due to the lockdown imposed by the pandemic.
Last week, Khumalo flew his first SAA flight in nine months to Brussels to fetch a batch of 80,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccines for healthcare workers. “It was amazing because I never saw myself flying again. We flew to Belgium to fetch vaccines and for me it was heartwarming because even my 10-year-old daughter finds me to be her hero because she has realised that I’m doing what I’m doing to save lives,” he said.
Khumalo, a pilot for more than 27 years, says he never imagined that he would live in fear of losing his job as he did during the period of the pandemic despite his heroics in the early stages of the Covid-19 outbreak. Khumalo was a national chief pilot on a mission to repatriate over 180 South Africans who were stranded in Wuhan City last March.
His fears for his job were further amplified by the fact that SAA was undergoing restructuring, with thousands of its employees facing retrenchments due to loss of revenue even before the pandemic hit.
“I thought I would never fly again after nine months of being at home because of the lockdown. Things changed drastically, people died everywhere, everyday. Hope was lost as people close to us lost their jobs and loved ones,” he said.
“I remember leaving my family behind not knowing if I’ll return home alive. At the stage it was scary because we were told the virus was airborne and going to fetch people with a possibility of being infected meant a big risk, but I did it for my country.”
Upon return to SA after the repatriation mission, Khumalo was quarantined for 14 days at the Ranch Resort in Polokwane with the rest of the returnees. Khumalo recalled how nervous he was when he took his first Covid-19 test in Polokwane while in quarantine. “My first specimen was inconclusive, so they had to take it twice and I was so nervous thinking I was already positive,” said Khumalo.
Khumalo said he outgrew that feeling already because he has taken over 14 Covid-19 tests since then because of working during the outbreak.
“So, I continued flying in and out of the country to fetch medical supply cargo from different parts of the world until our last flight in May last year when we received news that SAA no longer had money to operate,” he said.
Khumalo said he feared losing his job and devised a plan to start cattle farming. “I’m originally from Rustenburg, although I’m based in Cape Town. So, when I was younger I used to visit my grandparents where I had a holiday job in cattle farming. I have decided to pursue that in case the uncertainties of this pandemic threaten my job,” he said.
Khumalo said with the pandemic, the airline had to move from over 600 pilots to just 88.
He said his passion for aviation has made him not to lose hope, but to keep on encouraging young students to keep studying aviation. “I tell them to study harder because we need a lot of pilots and by the time they finish studying things would have gone back to normal. I believe that with the arrival of the vaccines a lot of lives will be saved, so things can go back to normal.”
Khumalo said the Covid-19 journey has brought about different kinds of changes in his lifestyle and character. “I value time with my family now because I have been spending only 16 days at home for the past 27 years. Now I enjoyed taking my daughter to school and picking her up everyday during the lockdown,” he said.
He said he has lost many friends, colleagues and loved ones to Covid-19. “But what pains me the most is the many SAA employees that lost their jobs. I was just fortunate to be called back because I’m not only a line pilot, but I’m also in management,” he explained.
‘‘ Hope was lost as people close to us lost their jobs...