The Civil Aviation Authority has come out guns blazing regarding how it granted SAA authorisation to fly a controversial flight to Brussels to collect Covid-19 vaccines.
In a statement released on Thursday, the regulator said the approvals were “a common phenomenon and certainly not unique to SAA”.
“The approvals are being twisted to paint a picture that the SAA is receiving preferential treatment from the regulator.”
The statement comes after it was revealed this week that on takeoff from OR Tambo International Airport on February 24, the Airbus A340-600 experienced an “Alpha Floor Event”, which saw the aircraft’s onboard computers take control of the flight to prevent it from stalling and crashing.
It was revealed that the aircrew, who have been unable to fly for almost a year because of the Covid-19 national lockdown, received several exemptions from the CAA to be able to legally fly.
Given the seriousness of an Alpha Floor Event, the regulator is meant to be notified between 48 and 72 hours.
Earlier this week the CAA said it was only notified three weeks after the event, which took place on March 17.
Regulator spokesperson Kabelo Ledwaba said the CAA processed exemptions from various operators in the industry daily.
“An exemption process is a legislated and an international best practice in line with the civil aviation regulations. An exemption application is submitted by the licence holder, SAA in this instance, to request permission from the regulator to deviate from the set legal requirements.”
He said applicants had to submit risk assessments to give assurance and comfort to the regulator that, despite deviating from the set regulatory requirements, measures had been put in place to ensure that safety would not be compromised.
“These applications undergo a rigorous assessment process by various departments within the CAA to ensure that the granting of such an exemption will not jeopardise aviation safety. This is by no means an overnight process.”
Ledwaba said the CAA had been commended internationally for the intensity and due diligence that its exemption process followed – “to the extent it has been recommended that other states can learn from the CAA”.
“The recent obsession over the exemption granted to the SAA has left the regulator perplexed as to the motives of those who have leaked this exemption to the public. Our conclusion can only be that this was to deliberately confuse and mislead the public in an area where they have limited understanding of the legislative prescripts and requirements.
“As the CAA, we are convinced that this is the ultimate aim, as only the outcome letter of the exemption was leaked while the other supporting documents, which contain more details, have not been shared.”
He said while SAA failed to report the Alpha Floor Event within the required time frame, when it was reported the CAA put together a team of technical experts to investigate both the incident and the reasons for the late filing of the incident report.
“Based on the outcomes of the investigation the CAA will take corrective action. Until the investigation is concluded, the regulator cannot comment further, as anything to the contrary will be based only on speculation.
“Any suggestion that the regulator is sweeping matters under the carpet is far from the truth,” Ledwaba said.
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