Two-thirds of the 62 firefighters stationed at Cape Town International Airport are "poorly trained" and have little or no general firefighting experience.
Only 15 percent are fully experienced and have a professional aviation qualification.
Training for an aviation qualification includes learning how to open and close an aircraft's doors and how to approach an aircraft when there is a crisis.
Should a major emergency arise at the airport, most of the firefighters may not have the skills to respond appropriately.
The airport fire service is privately owned and run by the Airports Company of South Africa (Acsa).
It is not affiliated to the city or the province's fire services.
Some of the firefighters have themselves said they do not feel they have had sufficient training.
The airport's chief fire officer has resigned, apparently because of the lack of training provided for his staff.
But Acsa is adamant it has "sufficiently qualified staff able to respond to any aviation incident".
According to an internal document that lists the skills levels of firefighters employed at Cape Town International Airport and which is in the possession of the Cape Times, 41 of the 62 have insufficient experience or aviation qualifications.
Most of the 41 have worked at the airport for three years or less and were not firefighters before taking this appointment.
According to the document, 12 of the 62 airport firefighters have an average amount of experience. While some have an internal aviation qualification, others are experienced enough to go for aviation training.
Only nine of the firefighters have a professional aviation qualification and are experienced in this field. Most of the nine have worked at the airport for more than 20 years.
Eleven posts are vacant and are being filled.
A well-placed employee who, for fear of reprisals asked not to be named, said Acsa had appointed inexperienced people "off the street" as firefighters as this was cheaper than employing people with experience.
He said that to be hired by the airport, one needed to have passed matric, to have a code eight driver's licence and to have completed an internal three-week basic firefighting course.
Hiring inexperienced firefighters was problematic because being stationed at the airport meant they did not have to respond to many emergencies and so did not gain much experience, he said.
Another source said the three-week basic course was "nowhere close to that for a professional fire service".
"The firefighters are poorly trained and they don't have experience," he said.
"Some of them haven't been trained to respond to a structural fire.
"Even if they do get further training, it leaves them without experience."
The source said Acsa had also "totally ignored" two phases a firefighter needed to complete to gain "a proper" aviation qualification.
A firefighter should complete a three-month course first, then a month-long programme before he or she could specialise by completing an aviation course.
The source said Acsa was skipping the first two courses and sending firefighters for an internal aviation course.
This meant that those who gained an internal aviation qualification "completely missed out on the basics".
The firefighters' duties included responding to medical emergencies and carrying out airfield inspections and runway checks.
The source said only the nine experienced members knew how to carry out inspections and checks correctly, and they had to "pick up the weight" of the 41 inexperienced firefighters.
He said the fire chief, Brandon Wilson, had resigned as he was unable to continue working in such conditions.
See report here - Cape Airport's licence at risk
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