The South African Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is responsible for regulating and overseeing the safety of the country’s airspace. However, a recent investigation by Carte Blanche has uncovered evidence that all is not well at the CAA, raising serious questions about air safety in South Africa.
The investigation began when a South African Airways Airbus A340-600 landed in Johannesburg from Accra, Ghana on 15 April 2021. During the flight, the plane’s engines started surging, a potential sign of contaminated fuel. Surprisingly, the flight’s commander chose to continue flying back to O.R. Tambo International Airport, raising serious concerns. This was the third in a series of four incidents involving SAA.
The investigation revealed that while other airlines have been grounded over safety concerns, the CAA has taken no action against the national carrier. In February 2021, the government sent an SAA Airbus a340600 to Belgium to collect covert vaccines, but the CAA stopped SAA twice when not all the training was in place. However, in an unusual move, the CAA waived some training requirements for the former SAA pilot Colin Jordan, who headed up the CAA a decade ago.
The investigation also revealed a disturbing incident involving a local flight school owner, Ricky Smith, who was accused of illegal training by a competitor. A subsequent investigation by the CAA exonerated Smith, but the CAA inspector Jason Maestri ignored the instruction to issue her license. It appears that Maestri was influenced by the competitor.
The investigation also uncovered details about the infamous contaminated fuel flight from Ghana to Johannesburg. The aircraft had detected fuel contamination the previous day, but the pilots took off without rigorous tests to ensure the contaminants were gone. This raises serious questions about the CAA’s ability to ensure the safety of our skies.
It is clear that the CAA is not fit for purpose and needs to be held to account. The regulator must be transparent and impartial when it comes to the bigger players, and it must be rigorous in its enforcement of safety standards. It is the responsibility of the CAA to make sure that our skies are safe, and only by ensuring this can South Africa maintain its sterling air safety record.