Chantelle Benjamin
27 March 2006
Johannesburg — LAST YEAR was a bad one for aviation safety in Africa. Even SA, seen as the aviation role model for the continent, saw an increase in accidents, although in SA's case the culprit was smaller, privately owned aircraft.
The poor safety record for commercial aircraft is seen as a cause for concern, especially as 37% of all fatal airline accidents last year happened over Africa, despite it comprising less than 5% of global airline traffic.
In Africa tourism creates about 470000 jobs and contributes $26bn to its economic output. As Transport Minister Jeff Radebe points out, our air safety is essential.
Speaking at last month's air safety conference held by the South African Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Christian Folly-Kosi, president of African Airlines Association, says Africa's safety record is stigmatising local airlines. The meeting was prompted by concerns that tourists may avoid using African airlines, particularly in the lead up to the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
His concerns are not without foundation. While there has been a decline in fatal air crashes in most of the world, Africa has seen an increase rising from an average of 5,1 fatal crashes in 1993 to 9,2 last year. This makes Africa nearly 10 times more dangerous than North America, Europe and Asia and four times more dangerous than Latin America.
South African aviation experts, particularly the CAA, quickly point out that SA is being unfairly tarred with the same brush and has a "safety record comparable to airlines in the rest of the world". Of major concern are the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola and Sudan, which account for 45% of all accidents over Africa. One potential solution has been to develop a global standard for airline operational safety management.
Known as the operational safety audit, it will be carried out by airline industry lobby group the International Air Transport Association (Iata), which has made it mandatory for all of its 265 airline members - constituting 94% of all air traffic - to undergo the audit by 2007.
Airlines that do not will be refused Iata membership. So far only four African airlines have completed the audit - South African Airways, Kenya Airways, Egyptair and Royal Air Maroc.
Giovanni Bisignani, director-general of Iata, says: "We need investment in infrastructure to support safe operations and more governments need to take advantage of the safety audit as a tool to complement safety oversight programmes."
SA's problem is with its smaller commercial, charter, private or recreational aircraft.
Last year saw 36 small commercial, charter and general aviation accidents; 105 accidents in small privately owned planes; and 11 in recreational or sport planes. Eighteen of these were fatal.
John Morrison, CEO of Airlines Association of Southern Africa, believes Africa's high accident rate lies with the continent's civil aviation authorities and their inability to police the skies. This has also been put forward as the reason for the high number of accidents among SA's smaller aircraft.
"Civil aviation authorities in many countries are just not up to the task. The problem is that many are still being run as part of a government department," says Morrison. "Most are understaffed, underpaid and have limited budgets, with inexperienced people overseeing safety."
Oliver Stratford, CEO of the Commercial Aviation Association of South Africa, says: "Measures are in place to regulate the private sector; the problem is that the CAA is incapable of fulfilling its responsibilities because of a shortage of staff."
The CAA's performance was raised repeatedly at the recent safety conference. Resolutions made involve improving the quality of audits by the CAA; adequate oversight and ensuring compliance of aerodrome operators; better reinforcement of regulations; better co-operation between the CAA and the industry; and sourcing staff from general aviation to overcome its skills shortage.
An increase in rogue operators as well as sheer numbers of privately owned aircraft has led to more accidents. Added to this are inexperienced pilots and a lack of the sophisticated navigational equipment, says Stratford.
CAA spokeswoman Phindiwe Gwebu insists that the authority carries out safety oversights across the sector and conducts ad hoc inspections to ensure that operators and owners comply with safety standards.
She attributes the high accident and fatality rate among private and recreational sport aircraft to pilots flying in unsafe weather conditions and not practising emergency procedures; shortcuts being taken when it comes to airline maintenance; and unethical owners forcing pilots to fly overloaded planes or fly in bad weather.
Stratford says inexperienced pilots are often caught in a Catch 22 situation: they need to increase flying hours to gain more experience, but they cannot afford their own planes and do not qualify for loans because banks tend to view flying as a wealthy man's sport rather than a career.
"To gain experience these youngsters will fly anything. There are more people wanting to fly for a living than there are opportunities," he says.
Aircraft which are nontype-specified, such as former army aircraft, helicopters or kit planes, do not have to comply with servicing instructions by the manufacturer, making the CAA's job all the harder, says Stratford.
A growth in the tourism sector has seen an increase in airborne tours - and accidents. One tour operator, whose helicopter had to make an emergency landing in a national park, injuring tourists and the pilot, allegedly has a history of similar accidents linked to maintenance.
Gilbert Thwala, executive manager of the CAA's occurrence investigations, defends the air authority. "Significant progress has been made but a single occurrence is one too many," he says.
He says the CAA wants to set safety improvement targets for the next three years and a meeting will be held next year to review the achievements.
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