SAA pilot expresses pride in repatriation flight to China and back

For Captain Bruce Finlay, the trip to Wuhan city in China was the most enjoyable journey of his 25 years of flying South African Airways (SAA) aircraft – and not once did he feel fear or regret to be going there.

The Port Alfred-born father of one said yesterday in a telephonic interview from The Ranch Hotel outside Polokwane, where he and other SAA employees have been quarantined with the group of repatriated South Africans, that he did it for the love of his country.

Their mission was to repatriate a group of South Africans who were holed up in China’s Wuhan city in Hubei province after the outbreak of coronavirus there.

The crew, which included the pilots and other staff, are currently in quarantine at the hotel for a minimum of 14 days and a maximum of 21.

The 51-year-old Finlay, a divorcee, said in all the 25 years he had been with the SAA, he had never undertaken a trip that many regarded as being too risky. But his conscience told him to do it to rescue fellow South Africans.

“I have been privileged and honoured to have served fellow South Africans in the best possible way I can.

“I think it’s a huge privilege to be afforded this opportunity, which so far I have enjoyed,” he said.

“There is always a risk in anything you do, just like flying an aeroplane is a risk, but you do it anyway. You always take a calculated risk.”

The South African Airways team had felt safe in the presence of he what called a “team of professionals”, the medics from the South African National Defence Force, who did their job excellently while assuring the SAA crew they were safe from infection.

Finlay’s daughter Zoe, 21, was concerned about her father because of the stories about how easily the contagious diseases could spread.

“I assured my family about the precautionary measures that had been undertaken to ensure we were safe,” he said.

Finlay flew with other SAA staffers who included chief pilot Vusi Khumalo, who was assisted by senior first officer Jacob Setlhake and senior first pilot Munzhedzi Machaba.

Finlay was the inflight relief captain. He said when they left OR Tambo Airport in Johannesburg, they knew they were on an important mission and that all eyes were on them.

They stopped at Clark International Airport outside Manila in the Philippines, and spent two nights in Manila while preparations, including the screening of their would-be passengers in Wuhan, were under way.

They arrived in Wuhan on Friday and spent two hours on the ground before flying to Polokwane Airport with the 122 South Africans who were to be quarantined.

– ericn@citizen.co.za

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.