Toti engineer makes history on St Helena (PHOTOS)
Most people had never seen aircraft in their lives.
TOTI resident and aircraft engineer, Jeff Mckenzie was part of history in the making, when he along with four crew members flying in a Beechcraft King Air 200 landed on St Helena Island, the first aircraft to ever land on the island.
The momentous event occurred in mid-September. Jeff runs an aircraft maintenance facility at Lanseria Airport.
“I started my career in aviation in 1983 and have been with it ever since. I was with a company based at the old Durban Airport for more than 23 years. My job has taken me to most parts of the world. My family and I have lived in Toti since 1988. We run Toti Ranch on Adams Road,” he said.
“We were approached by a UK based company to assist them regarding the setting-up and testing of runway navigational aids on a project being built on the remote island of St Helena.
Planning for this project started in January and is ongoing as we progress to more flights to the island.
“I started my career in aviation in 1983 and have been with it ever since.
The main hurdle regarding our involvement was to modify our Beechcraft King Air 200 by adding specialised antennas and power points to accommodate the test equipment needed to carry out the runway calibrations.
After many stressful hurdles, we remained on schedule and departed Lanseria Airport early morning on 14 September. Our first stop was a night stop in Ondangwa, a small town in the north of Namibia. Early morning the next day, we ferried across the border into Angola to a landing strip on the west coast called Namibe. This was to fuel up and get the latest weather reports, before the lengthy trip across the South Atlantic Ocean to St Helena Island.”
The flight across the ocean took just under five hours. “Had the weather picked up, or any other reason, we could not land on St Helena Island. Our alternate landing would’ve been Ascension Island, situated just past St Helena. It was quite a discomforting feeling knowing there’s this vast amount of water underneath us as far as the eye can see.”
There was a crew of five on board the aircraft. The captain, co-pilot, two survey members and Jeff. His role was to make sure the aircraft and all the test equipment fitted, functioned correctly.
Due to the mountainous terrain of the whole island, the prospects of building an airport was always thought almost impossible and far too expensive. The only way people have travelled to and from the island is by ship, aboard the RMS St Helena, which has been the only means of supplies and transport for many years, but it is now up for retirement sometime in 2016.
“Had the weather picked up, or any other reason, we could not land on St Helena Island.
The UK government made the decision to establish an airport and contracted Basil Reed in South Africa to tackle this huge task. They have worked day and night for the past six years, mountains have had to be moved and ground levelled to make a suitable area for the runway and terminal buildings.
“On our final approach we noticed hundreds of local people all over the mountaintops watching in awe at our arrival. Most local people had never seen an aircraft in their lives. We then realised that we had made history on the island, it was wonderful to be a part of it. After the aircraft came to a stop on the hard stand, we were introduced to the governor and all respective parties. Many photos and press interviews continued for the rest of the afternoon.”
They stayed in James Town, a wonderful, clean town with tremendous history. “Castle walls with moats, cannons and forts dating back centuries surrounded the island. The whole crew also climbed the almost vertical hill with steps, named Jacob’s ladder, with some 700 steps to the top and back down again. The most fascinating thing on the island is how deserted the areas around the coast are and how fertile the land is higher up inland.”
The Portuguese discovered the island in 1502. Due to the fact that it’s one of the most isolated islands in the world, St Helena Island has been used as a place of exile by the British for a number of centuries. Notable examples are Napoleon Bonaparte, Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo and thousands of Boer prisoners.
As of February 2016, there are plans to start commercial flights to the island.
