SACAA rubbishes CemAir’s claims of ‘bad blood’

T
HE South African Civil
Aviation Authority
(SACAA) has disputed
the claim by CemAir ceo,
Miles van der Molen, that its
recent grounding is motivated
by bad blood between the
airline and SA Express.
Kabelo Lebwaba, manager:
communications of SACAA,
told TNW that the Authority
found the suggestion that its
action against CemAir was
a sinister motive instigated
and propelled by its
competitor both ‘ludicrous’
and ‘insulting’. He says
the reports of an alleged
affidavit that purports that
the SACAA is out to ‘nail’
CemAir remains suspiciously
elusive. “The SACAA is yet
to receive the document
despite having met with
CemAir representatives on
several occasions.”
Kabelo says the history
of the corrective measures
taken by the SACAA clearly
demonstrates that it does
not favour any form of bias
or favouritism.
On Sunday, Carte Blanche
aired a report on the airline,
pointing out that this was
not the first time that Miles
had made headlines, and
uncovered past incidents
connected to him. In
1999, one pilot and nine
passengers were killed in
a crash in a Piper Chieftain
aircraft owned by Miles, then
owner and ceo of Flightline
Charter Services. In 2002,
Edenvale Regional Court
Magistrate PJ du Plessis
found that negligence by
Miles had led to the deaths
in the crash that the SACAA
described as “the worst
single civil aviation accident
in almost 20 years”.
Previous CemAir employees
interviewed anonymously by
Carte Blanche said safety
checks were sometimes
rushed and that overloading
was not uncommon, while
the organisation was
characterised by a culture
of fear.
However, Miles maintains
the incident plays no role in
the grounding and that it is
merely due to a paperwork
discrepancy.
He says the airline is
making progress in relation
to the re-certification process
and expects to be operating
a limited schedule by the
end of the week (Friday,
February 16).
But Kabelo says the
SACAA finds it disheartening
that CemAir refers to the
comprehensive findings
outlined in the audit safety
report as a mere “paperwork
discrepancy” as the airline’s
corrective action plan has
acknowledged the existence
and root cause of the
deficiencies. “Grounding or
suspension of permits is the
very last and most severe
measure the SACAA can take
when there are clear civil
aviation safety and security
risks,” he explains. “Any
talk of a mere paperwork
discrepancy is an ill-advised
public relations exercise.
If this were the case, the
matter would have been
resolved in a few hours.”
While Kabelo notes the
progress made by CemAir,
he emphasises that this
does not change the current
status, meaning that the
airline’s Aircraft Maintenance
Organisation approval
remains suspended pursuant
to a successful completion of
the re-certification process,
which comprises four
phases – formal application,
document evaluation,
demonstration phase and
certification.