Special Hearings — Helderberg Flight Special Hearing — 1998-06-03

MR BRAIZBLATT: They obviously didn't think it was anything of any important nature, or else they would have asked me, but once again, I've said to you before, and I clarify this again, in my capacity of being out at the airport, I'm interested in three things, first customer satisfaction, on time performance, and getting the aircraft out as soon as I possibly can, getting it away from me so as it can start back on its roundward journey.  We have got cargo handling agents, they're being paid to do this job, it's their job to see what is the matter, what goes on.  If there would have been - this is where the whole thing lies, if there would have been something abnormal it would have been written up.

MR MAGADHLA: The thing is they called you.  You say it's their job and why would they have called you if it was not important for you to see the object and also to say whatever you had to say about the object?

MR BRAIZBLATT: Once again, I clarify myself of what told you before, Mr Magadhla, the airport authority called me to show me the long object, why wasn't I informed or why didn't I inform them to have special equipment ready to off-load this object?

MR MAGADHLA: Okay.  Now, you are aware that after that air crash there was an investigation by aviation people?

MR BRAIZBLATT: After the Helderberg?

MR MAGADHLA: Yes.

MR BRAIZBLATT: Yes, I'm aware.

MR MAGADHLA: Were you one of the people who were approached to give whatever version you had to give with regards to the handling of whatever objects that went into that plane.

MR BRAIZBLATT: Into which plane?

MR MAGADHLA: Into the Helderberg.

MR BRAIZBLATT: I had nothing to do with the Helderberg, I was in Tel Aviv.  Helderberg was from Australia to Mauritius.

MR MAGADHLA: The other object that we're talking about is not an object that had to do with the Helderberg, okay.

MR BRAIZBLATT: I don't understand the - I had nothing to do with the Helderberg.

MR MAGADHLA: No, it's okay ...(inaudible)

MS PATTA: Mr Braizblatt, why did they need special equipment, was it particularly heavy, or was it particularly long?

MR BRAIZBLATT: Particularly long.  Now also, it doesn't matter, once you have a long piece, it's difficult to manoeuvre it around and take it off, because the high-loaders that we have at the airport servicing passenger aircraft are used for pellets, ordinary pellets, as opposed to cargo aircraft that would have a doubt pellet loader, that would be easier to remove from the belly of an aircraft.

MS PATTA: But you also said it couldn't be done manually.

MR BRAIZBLATT: It can't be done manually because we don't have 15 or 20 airport porters to pick it up.

MS PATTA: So it is heavy?

MR BRAIZBLATT: Anything that's over 200kg - 300kg, you're not going to get 2 or 3 people picking it up, you're going to need a lot more that 2 or 3 people.  You see, what they used was a bar of a series of bars and they were manoeuvring it around, pushing it around on the series of bars to get it off sideways onto the high-loader, and from there using a fork-lift to take it down.

MS PATTA: I think you've answered.

MR BRAIZBLATT: Okay, I hope that's helped you, I don't know.

MS PATTA: Very much so, thank you.

MR MAGADHLA: This object that you say according to you was unknown, you didn't know what it was, what if it was a dangerous object?

MR BRAIZBLATT: I shudder to think of it, I don't even want to think of it, what if it was, I don't even want to think of it.

MR MAGADHLA: I hear there was an object which you were not made to prepare for it, and there it is and you are called to come and have a look at it and you are satisfied with ...(intervention)

MR BRAIZBLATT: Don't forget this is an object that's come from our head office, from Johannesburg.  This is an object that was supposedly had gone through security and everything else.  This was for me safe cargo, it wasn't anything else, it was safe cargo.  Had it not been safe cargo I should have been advised.  What you're asking me, do I question the authority of the people that sent me things.

MR MAGADHLA: No, I'm not saying that, I'm saying, if you had this abnormally heavy object that needed some kind of machine to lift it and you did not know what it was, knowing that dangerous objects are not allowed in the area of the planes, didn't it occur in your mind that, but what is this object?

MR BRAIZBLATT: No it didn't because ...(intervention)

MR MAGADHLA: Is it a dangerous or a safe object?

MR BRAIZBLATT: No, because once again, had we have known, we have to rely on two things, or I have to rely on three things basically.  I have to rely on information that's sent to me, that information that is sent to me has to rely on Shipper's declaration, dangerous goods, what I told Mrs Terreblanche, we rely on this things because if we have to start checking every single piece of cargo, heavy or not heavy, that falls off a gully or falls off a trolley or whatever, we'd be there all day and all night.  We have heavy objects, we have objects that are 2 metres in length weighing 1 1/2  tons, these are dyes, these are dyes or moulds for making things.

MR MAGADHLA: I'm was just asking because you are talking about the agricultural modules that came from South Africa for repairs or something, and that those, because they were modules they were not dangerous to anything or suspected to be dangerous, you have had occasion to know what they were exactly.  But here's this one where you are called to come and see and you don't bother - remember we have said that those times leaving the story that you say that you had other authorities, other people dealing with that stuff, but you're also aware that those times were embargo times and things may not have been told to everybody.  Now here's this thing all of a sudden, showing itself that there's something that is here and you don't know about, this is the context in which these questions are being asked.

MR BRAIZBLATT: Okay, Mr Magadhla, let me clarify my statement in regarding irrigation equipment.  For me irrigation equipment was very important, it was important because we were selling the space for this equipment.  We were selling space from Tel Aviv for this equipment.  This was equipment where we had a local shipper in Israel, using SA services.  So for me his stuff was very important and needed to be taken care of.  I didn't want to loose a client, so when I knew that he was getting stuff back I was doubly sure to make - it was in our promotional interest to make double sure, whereas the shipments you're speaking about, there was not way that any of us could know the nature or the illegal nature if you wish to call it, if it was illegal, of what was inside.  And it wasn't something that I could worry myself with to start checking what's going on, because once again, if the manifest would have said aircraft parts for example, or wings or things like that, or it would have said, let's say, commercial shipment or consolidated shipment or tractor part, or whatever, that's what I would have to rely on.  That's what I would have to rely on, you see.  If later a claim would come against us for anything damaged it would have been a claim for a damaged part.

MR MAGADHLA: Thank you.

MR BRAIZBLATT: Okay.

MS PATTA: Were you aware of a frequent number, a significant number of misdeclarations of SAA planes that you say, for example, you say you had to rely on the cargo manifest, but the cargo manifest may say computer parts where in fact it was actually something that was misdeclared, it was something else.  Were you aware of that at all?

MR BRAIZBLATT: From Johannesburg to Tel Aviv or from Tel Aviv to Johannesburg?

MS PATTA: From both directions.

MR BRAIZBLATT: I can vouch there were nothing from Tel Aviv at that time because I've explained to already.

MS PATTA: You know what was in the cargo going from Tel Aviv?