24-year-old is Ghana’s first locally trained commercial pilot
Soft-spoken 24-year-old Selorm Kobla Santino Adedavoh had always wanted to be a pilot from his infancy, but he never imagined that besides achieving that life-time dream, he was also going to be Ghana’s first ever locally-trained commercial pilot with Instrument and Multi-engine rating.
“I feel privileged and I feel very good that I have brought it to light that you can train in Ghana and you can attain Commercial Pilot License (CPL) right here in Ghana,” he said with pride and a touch of smile, spotting his white short-sleeved shirt with the black and gold stripes on his shoulders, marched with a black pair of trousers and black-tie.
The six-foot-five tall young man is not only aware of the historic feat he has achieved; he also believes Ghana Airways will bounce back sooner than later, and he would be one of the first pilots to fly Ghana Airways aircraft again.
Selorm was among the first batch of 16 graduates from Ghana’s first privately-owned internationally and locally certified aviation school, Mish Aviation School at Tema Community 22. Some trained for the basic Private Pilot License (PPL), which means they cannot be hired and rewarded for flying; but Selorm was one of the few who went for the full CPL (Commercial Pilot License) and emerged with flying colours. This means he is ready to be hired and paid by any airline.
The training comprised a comprehensive ground school in Aeronautical Knowledge; Skills Training involving flying with assistance for specific number of hours, flying cross-country, and flying solo for at least 10 hours for the PPL and 50 hours for the CPL. They then took internal written mock exams, internal flight skill tests and finally the external exam run by the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), which is the license issuing authority.
Selorm and all his 15 colleagues obtained 100 percent pass in the PPL written test, and they went on to also clock another 100 percent pass in the skills test for the CPL. For their reward, they each obtained the Aeronautical Knowledge Certificates from Mish Aviation, plus PPL and or CPL licenses from the GCAA.
He and two other Ghanaians had enrolled to undertake the flight training programme, but Selorm was the only Ghanaian who continued to cross the finishing line with excellence. The rest were Nigerians. The two other Ghanaians [names withheld] dropped out after the PPL programme voluntarily.
By Samuel Dowuona