A thriving female pilot from the South African Police Service Air Wing has urged young women to strongly consider aviation as a career path due to the demand in the sector for more female pilots, technicians, engineers and other specialised skills.

Lieutenant Colonel Kgothatso Khunou spoke to IOL during a recorded interview earlier this week after she was named as the aviation winner in the prestigious Forty Under 40 award.

The awards recognize some of Mzansi's finest young people in sectors including finance, law, the creative arts, engineering, science, technology, innovation, business and other sectors.

The awards were held last weekend in Kempton Park, and they were accompanied by a youth summit, which presented recommendations to Youth Minister Sindi Chikunga.

Speaking to IOL as part of The Big Interview series, which highlights the work of industry leaders in various disciplines, Lt Col Khunou said she was humbled and grateful for the award.

Khunou is the chief pilot of the SAPS Air Wing unit at the Bloemfontein branch. She is just one out of 17 female pilots in the country and had been nominated in the aviation category alongside her colleague Captain Zeldah Ntuli from the Air Wing unit in Wonderboom, Pretoria.

Khunou joined the police in May 2014 and she shares how the journey has been a steep learning curve, but an exciting one nonetheless.

“It has been a learning curve for me from the beginning, it’s been exciting with operational flying and with the growth I've had to go through in the police with the colleagues, the ladies and gentlemen in blue who I've got to work with all these years.

“It's been an exciting journey and a very humbling one, which I wouldn't trade for anything, I have grown, I have learned a lot and I am still to learn a lot, I am very appreciative of this journey,” she said.

But for one who once had a fear of flying, she has come a long way.

“I had a fear of flying in a commercial plane, thinking if it takes off what if it crashes because of what we knew of aviation is what we saw on TV with Air Crash Investigations.

“Obviously one would have to apply their mind and think, what if this happens to me, but going through the tests and now being exposed to aviation, we learnt that, once you are in control of an aircraft, that fear immediately disappeared for me,” she said..

Khunou said her fear of flying ended forever once she had to fly alone.

“Then you can see your capability. You can see that you're able to do this and then that fear just automatically goes away,” she said.Recalling how her family felt when she informed her parents she would be joining the SAPS Air Wing, Khunou revealed that her dad was “very scared” for her.

“He was not keen at all,” she recalled.

“With time he realized that I'm my own person and I really like what is not conventional and he appreciated it. He's a very proud man today,, my mother is the same, she is very humble and she said to me ‘I'm proud of you, I never got to tell you but l'm proud of you’,” she recalled as her mum held the award earlier this week.

Young Women PilotsAsked if she would encourage young black women to steer towards the SAPS Air Wing as she did 10 years ago, she said:

“I would encourage them to pursue a career first in aviation because in most cases, most people that join the Air Wing join as pilots, they come fully qualified.“There are bursaries out there, if you can acquire one through different companies and organizations that do provide.

“Get yourself a license, get yourself to be a pilot and then apply in the police because police you get to fly operationally, which is different from the straight and level flight from one place to another and you get to learn a lot, and there are a lot of people that are willing to help you in the training, you get to be competent with police.

“So it would be a great advantage for this space for females in the police. And that you're trajectory it will be well defined.

“There's a need for people in aviation throughout other organizations as well so I would advise them to join to pursue aviation, not just as pilots but as technicians as engineers, there's a need and there's a demand for them, so I would greatly advice,” she said.

Khunou said she found her work fulfilling, whether they were pursuing criminals, recovering bodies, looking for missing persons who were hiking in the mountains or assisting other units such as Search and Rescue.

“It brings me so much closure because it gives other people closure, the families who have been looking for their loved ones,” she said.

Air Wing StrugglesAsked about some of the challenges they faced on the job, Khunou said they had a nationwide issue with the “serviceability of aircraft”, which included not getting parts or services taking too long.

“It's affecting us mostly that, sometimes you don't have availability of aircraft to do your work. So that is one thing that is the biggest challenge,” she said.

An inspired MzansiReflecting on the Forty Under 40 award winners, Khunou said it was “inspiring” to be around so many gifted young people. .

“There is no better way to explain it. There are so many young South Africans that have achieved so much and are pushing themselves, they have so much drive.

“I was in a room full of multi-millionaires and they are so young and they're all African South Africans,” she said.

Khunou said she remains dedicated to being “of service to the entire nation”, to serve and to carry out the Batho Pele principles, dedicated her award to every dedicated police officer in the service.

“There are excellent people who are dedicated, who are passionate about being in the police, who want to utilize what they have in the police.

“We have great individuals who work with great leadership. And from people that you would not think because, the police is seen in a certain way. But I would like to come in and say they also inspire me, I'm inspired. I come from the organization, and this award is for every officer in the stations,” she said.

IOL