Civil Aviation Authority grounds CemAir for 'unacceptable and intolerable' conduct

“This conduct is absolutely unacceptable and intolerable!”

That is what the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) said on Thursday after it suspended CemAir and grounded its 21 planes.

“These myriad of identified non-compliances bring to the fore the fact that the actions and conduct of this operator pose a serious and immediate threat to safety," the SACAA said.

It effectively grounded CemAir flights on Wednesday for 24 hours after inspectors found during CemAir’s annual permit renewal audit that the airline contravened the Civil Aviation Act and five SACAA regulations.

“Despite being issued with a prohibition order, CemAir knowingly continued to fly their aircraft in contravention of the applicable regulatory prescripts.”

SACAA said CemAir threatens aviation safety and shows “a total disregard for the role and responsibilities of the regulator”.

SACAA reviewed CemAir’s Corrective Action Plan (CAP) which sought to address the initial findings unveiled on Wednesday.

“The Corrective Action Plan and subsequent action by the operator indicate that there has been a material departure and a dereliction of duty on the part of the accountable manager which clearly violates regulatory provisions.”

SACAA said it also has records showing CemAir has been operating “some aircraft outside of permissible loading (weight and balance) limits; meaning the weights of passengers and baggage declared by the flight crew were not the same with those recorded by the service provider contracted by CemAir”.