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Capt. Brad Bennetts

APS Airbus Type-Specific UPRT Instructor

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Brad Bennetts learned to fly and soloed at the age of sixteen. He landed his first airline job at the age of 23 and was promoted to captain at the age of 25, making him the youngest medium-body jet captain in the country at the time. Since, he has accumulated more than 17,000 hours and 20 years of airline experience in over 65 different aircraft types, including the Boeing 737 and Airbus 320 series, and competed in aerobatics at national and international levels.

Brad is a certified airshow authorization examiner and a board member of Airshow South Africa. For 16 years, he owned and managed his own sponsored aerobatic team on the popular South African airshow circuit, flying over 500 surface level formation aerobatic demonstrations. He competed at the World Grand Prix of aerobatics competition in both Japan and the UAE, placing second on both occasions in the team formation display category. Brad is one of the few pilots in South Africa to hold an Airbus Display Authorization and has displayed the Airbus 320, 330, and 340 at various airshow and sporting events around the country.

Currently, Brad is a wide-body senior first officer and instructor pilot for South African Airways (SAA) flying the Airbus 330/340 on the company’s international route network. He is also involved in many aspects of CRM development and organizational behavior training for aircrew at the airline.

APS Airbus Type-Specific UPRT Instructor

By special request from SAA’s pilot management team due to his all-attitude experience, Brad developed, lead, and maintained the airline’s Upset Prevention and Recovery Training (UPRT) program. After completing the APS Phase 1 train-the-trainer program that same year, he developed SAA’s Phase 2 Boeing and Airbus UPRT program in consultation with APS. SAA has additionally successfully completed the APS Phase 3 and Phase 4 airline UPRT quality assurance audits. To date, Brad and his team of 12 dedicated UPRT instructors have trained over 800 airline pilots within the company in both initial and recurrent UPRT programs.

Brad holds APS’s highest simulator qualification as an APS-certified Airbus Type-specific A320/330/340 Upset Prevention and Recovery Training (UPRT) Train-the-Trainer Instructor. He deploys globally to assist airlines with delivering APS’s UPRT directly to their airline pilots and/or assists airlines in developing their own internal ICAO-compliant, APS-certified Airbus UPRT program(s).

Airline/Instructor Experience

  • 20+ Years as a Boeing and Airbus Airline Pilot
  • Airbus 330/340 Instructor Pilot, South African Airways
  • Airbus Display Pilot, South African Airways
  • 17,000 Hours Total Time in 65 Airplane Types
  • All-Attitude Experience
  • 18 Years of Competition and Airshow Display Flying
  • 4 Years as Full-Time APS Airbus Type-Specific Jet Upset Training Instructor
  • Airshow Display Authorization Examiner (SACAA)
  • South African Display Authorization Committee Member

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