By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
South Africa’s Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) has suspended Comair’s Air Operator Certificate privileges indefinitely, as the regulator still needs to review evidence that it is safe for the airline to resume flights.
Comair operates Kulula and British Airways in South Africa. Its licence is suspended until it addresses the SACAA’s findings, the regulator stated.
According to the SACAA, Comair operations experienced issues ranging from engine failures, engine malfunction, and landing gear malfunctions in the past month.
It describes these as “level 1” and “level 2” findings, with level 1 being the most urgent.
Comair can appeal the suspension under part 185.04.2 of the regulations.
“The SACAA recognises the efforts of the operator to close the findings as speedily as possible and in this regard the operator started dispatching the evidence to the regulator from the evening of Saturday 12 March 2022,” it stated.
“The inspectorate team worked through the night to review the evidence received and as at 06:30am on the morning of 13 March 2022 the regulator accepted the corrective action and evidence submitted in respect of one Level 1 finding. This therefore means this finding is now closed.”
SACAA said the review of the rest of the evidence of which the latest was received around 07:30 this morning, will continue to be assessed and reviewed by the inspectorate this morning.
Two level 1 findings, and one level 2 finding remain to be addressed.
SACAA explained that under its oversight philosophy, a level 1 finding which poses an immediate risk must be closed immediately and a level 2 finding must be closed within seven days.
“The SACAA sought to confirm Comair’s compliance with applicable Civil Aviation Regulations. The inspection was also aimed at reviewing Comair’s quality control management system and safety management systems to establish compliance related to reporting, analysis and follow-up on occurrences, and corrective action plans to prevent recurrence,” it stated.
“The SACAA is fully committed to ensuring that the operator is back in the air and has dedicated a full team to assess and review the evidence as it gets submitted. The commitment to safety, in this case, supersedes any other need, and this is to ensure that South Africa maintains its safety record of having ZERO fatal airline accidents,” said the regulator.
In a statement issued on Sunday afternoon, Comair said that it continues to engage constructively with the regulator.
“Despite working through the night, Comair will not be able to resume operations today,” it said.
“Our priority now is to assist passengers who have been stranded. We have chartered two aircraft to assist vulnerable passengers and those who most urgently need to travel.”
Meanwhile Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula, has been advised that the decision taken by the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) to suspend the air operator certificate of Comair was a precautionary measure.
“The regulator took this decision independently, in line with its mandate to oversee aviation safety,” the Ministry of Transport said.
This action follows a series of safety incidents, involving British Airways Comair and Kulula.com, which led the regulator to conduct a safety oversight inspection to determine compliance with the Civil Aviation Regulations.
“The regulator has advised the Minister that the decision follows a series of safety incidents for which Comair was expected to address. The safety issues identified by the regulator, which non-compliant with the regulations, led to its decision to suspend the operator’s Air operator Certificate, effectively grounding the entire fleet,” the Ministry said.
The Ministry has affirmed its commitment to ensuring compliance with aviation safety prescripts without fear, favour or prejudice.
“South Africa has an impeccable aviation safety record in so far as airline operations are concerned. This is due to our robust aviation safety regime and the vigilance SACAA exercises in ensuring full compliance by airlines, “the Ministry said.