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By Se-Anne Rall 
2h ago
The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) has called for an investigation into an alleged “showcase session” of a pilot in a Robinson R22 helicopter yesterday.
In a video clip, the pilot is seen entertaining friends in a braai. SACAA’s director of civil aviation, Poppy Khoza, said a regulatory compliance investigation was underway regarding this incident.
“The way the helicopter is flown goes against all the characteristics of good flight, and possibly also against the law of flight operations and aircraft limitations. Regardless, the investigation will reveal the true facts with regarding this matter, “Khoza said.
He said the authority was also concerned about the high number of plane crashes in recent weeks.
Last month, 14 accidents were reported, four of which were fatal, killing eight people.
Khoza said the last time the country experienced such a high number of accidents was in October 2008, later dubbed “Black October,” when 20 accidents were recorded in that month, resulting in eight fatal accidents that claimed 26 lives.
“While air travel remains the safest among all modes of transport, for us as regulators, a life lost is too much. With strict regulations in place, along with levels of checks and balances, the expectation is that the measures inherent in the system, both security and safety, should function as they are supposed to. “
Khoza said that while the accident rate is not currently at that level, it is quite concerning that there have been so many accidents in one month.
“We cannot afford to repeat the October 2008 statistics, so we are sounding warning bells for all operators to ensure strict adherence to aviation safety and security regulations.”
Khoza said that while investigations were ongoing into the cause of recent accidents, a review of completed reports from previous accidents points to some common causal factors.
She said that at the top of the list were problems related to flight crew, aircraft operations, and mechanical or engine failures.
“In effect, this means that there are no new or unknown causal factors for aviation accidents. The causes have been the same since the beginning of air transport, more than a century ago.
” The main question remains; Why do accidents continue when we know the causes? Could it be a question of attitude and not necessarily of aptitude? “
The recent series of accidents comes a few months after the launch of the General Aviation Safety Strategy (GASS).
“The GASS and its implementation plan are tools that will span the financial years 2020-21 to 2024-25 and are intended to curb accidents in the private and recreational flight sector, commonly known as general aviation.
“It would appear that the general aviation industry has not fully embraced the safety principles that apply to scheduled commercial operations or the airline industry, which has not had an air crash resulting in passenger fatalities in over 30 years in South African soil. This is a record we are proud of and we want the general aviation industry to emulate, “said Khoza.
He appealed for collaboration from all stakeholders, adding that accidents don’t just happen out of nowhere.
“A series of events usually leads to an accident. Therefore, we appeal to everyone to live by the mantra that ‘you see something improper, you say something’, because that could save someone’s life, including yours.”
Khoza said that an off-site validation that was conducted in October 2020 by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to confirm the accuracy of the evidence presented by South Africa to close the audit findings emanating from the 2017 ICAO audit. , resulted in the improvement of the ICAO Effective Implementation Rating (EI) of our country from 87.41 to 88.68%.
This, Khoza said, consolidates the country’s place among the top countries in compliance with aviation security, security oversight and management.
“Considering our global ranking in terms of compliance, coupled with the numerous clean audit opinions that SACAA has received from the Auditor General over several consecutive years, it means that we are calling and demanding strict compliance with our country’s aviation laws that we , like SACAA, we are equally capable of defending.
“Compliance in all aspects of aviation should become second nature to all aviators.”
MESS
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