The Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) banned SA Express from flying any of its aircraft on Saturday saying “is critical to note that this suspension is precautionary and taken in the interest of safety and preventing incidents that can be catastrophic” but somehow backed out on Sunday lifting the ban saying “they had (now) submitted a quality plan”. What changed overnight from critically dangerous flying to “quality” only the SACAA and the ministers who put pressure on them will know.
Earlier the public enterprises department’s director general took the lead in talks with the SACAA on the suspension of SA Express’s Air Operator Certificate (AOC).
Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown said on Saturday she had noted the SACAA’s temporary suspension of SA Express’s AOC and was providing “all the necessary support to management of SA Express to resolve this matter… Therefore I have tasked the department’s director general, Mr Mogokare Seleke, to lead talks with the CAA to resolve this matter.
She apologise to passengers who have been inconvenienced by the suspension of the company’s certificate. Earlier on Saturday, the SACAA said it had suspended SA Express’s AOC for failing to comply with the applicable civil aviation regulations. The suspension was effective immediately on Saturday and all planes were grounded.
“It is critical to note that this suspension is precautionary and taken in the interest of safety and preventing incidents that can be catastrophic. The suspension, which is in terms of Part 185 of the Civil Aviation Regulations, pertains to the operator’s AOC – N399D, S370D, I/N002, and I/S001.”
The suspension followed a “series of non-compliances” and the SACAA’s dissatisfaction with the operator’s safety monitoring systems which were meant to monitor and address any safety deficiencies. The regulator also found the operator’s proposed corrective action plan inadequate as it did not satisfactorily address the findings raised.
“The SACAA wishes to point out that recent inspections and audits on the airline’s operations have pointed to inefficient safety monitoring systems and some level of failure by the operator to satisfactorily address concerns raised by the regulator.
“The SACAA views the inefficiency of the safety monitoring systems in a serious light as it poses serious safety hazards and risks to the crew, passengers, and the public at large. For this reason, the regulator cannot allow the operator to continue with operations until such time that the identified safety concerns are adequately addressed,” it said.
As much as the SACAA had a duty to help operators comply with applicable regulations the primary responsibility was on operators to ensure that their operations were safe and secure at all times.
Failure to do so was a contravention of the applicable civil aviation regulations. Moreover, aviation safety and security were of paramount importance in this industry, and passengers required some form of assurance that once they boarded an aircraft they would automatically land safely and hassle-free at their intended destination.
After all of this and only 24 hours later the situation seemed to change overnight. The Civil Aviation Authority then confirmed it’s lifted the suspension of the South African Express’s air operator certificate, after it was temporarily suspended due to concerns over safety systems. This means the airline will be able to operate all its “dangerous” aircrafts again.
The aviation authority’s Simon Segwabe said, “They had submitted to us a quality plan, we had subsequent engagement with them in a meeting and an exchange of documentation. We eventually found which submission they’ve made to us to address the concerns we had previously.”
In a statement SA Express CEO Inati Ntshanga said, “we assure the general public that this matter has been substantially addressed and will never occur again. I wish to reiterate that SA Express’s safety record is of the highest possible standards, which is one of the reasons we are South Africa’s leading regional airline.”
The CAA now says it will continue to monitor the full implementation of SA Express’ corrective action plan after lifting the airline’s temporary suspension.
