Mzansi’s People: Airlink pilot loves the adrenaline rush of her ‘office in the sky’

Sitting behind the controls of an Embraer commercial airliner was a high school passion of Airlink pilot Captain Herma Fouche.

It all started when her sister, at university at the time, took gliding lessons.

Fouche remembers: “After my first experience in a glider, I was hooked. I told my friends that’s my calling. It was strange because I didn’t grow up in an aviation environment like many pilots do.

“My parents supported me and exposed me to opportunities to visit the Air Force and flight schools. I still went to universities to look at what they offered, but nothing excited me as much as flying did.

“Once I started, there was no going back.”

Since then, the thirtysomething commander’s career has flourished.

“I have been lucky to land at Airlink, where career progression is positive due to a lot of growth in the company, and it makes career prospects for future pilots far more attractive.”

After a dozen years behind the controls, Fouche still finds every day’s flying exhilarating, despite flying routes that have become familiar and what we as the public might consider to be a humdrum of take-off and landing.

She says she still experiences appreciation for a job on a daily basis when she soars thousands of feet above the ground.

“This is what I get to do every day. It’s literally the adrenaline that you feel, when you’re coming in for a landing and you have tough conditions, and you’re working hard to ace it.

And you just feel great, every time.

She likened flying a jet to driving a souped-up sports car.

When Fouche speaks about her job, she gushes: “You feel great, you feel accomplished. I mean, just the things we see, like sunsets and sunrises, you can see the beautiful and mesmerising mountains.

“Like now, the mountains are absolutely covered in snow. It looks like the Swiss Alps. And then you think, in appreciation, that some others never get to see these things.”

Fouche says change of weather can present one of the greatest challenges.

“In the summer months, weather is a big factor, and you are constantly dodging thunderstorms.

“In the winter months, you might get nicer weather. But then you could encounter turbulence again. And then you need to make a plan for that.”

She tells how lightning once struck an aircraft that she was flying.

While there was no significant damage, the way the bolt travelled along the fuselage caused a bright flash on the wing tip, and passengers were somewhat uncomfortable.

But aircraft are designed to withstand this kind of charge, and that’s why critical systems on board have substantial backups.

Beyond captaining flights? Fouche says she would love to move into training on the jet fleet. Teaching and sharing knowledge are a passion for her, and that’s on her career agenda.

But after hours, she leaves her job at the office in the sky.

Fouche prefers to spend quality time with her family, explore the great outdoors and keep fit with boxing. An avid reader, fiction is her page-turning go-to.

More ways of relaxing, or no-gos?

“I don’t like shopping. I go to the shop because I must. I hate going to a shop on a weekend when everyone else is out there doing their thing.

“I prefer to go during the week when everyone else is at work.

“I’d rather go to a spa, anyway, that is my guilty pleasure.”