‘Flying coffin’ should have been replaced two years before crash

With known mechanical defects that raised the eyebrows of the SA Civil Aviation Authority (Sacaa) three-member flight crew who died last year aboard the Cessna S550 Citation SII plane crash in George, it has emerged the aircraft should have been replaced two years before the fatal incident.

Captain Thabiso Tolo, 49, first officer Tebogo Lekalakala, 33, and flight inspector Gugu Mnguni, 36, died in the crash on 23 January last year.

According to minutes of the Sacaa audit and risk committee meetings, seen by The Citizen, the plane used by the crew for the calibration of the country’s airports should have been replaced as far back as 2018.

In terms of the minutes:

• • The Sacaa board, which met on 25 August, 2015, approved the flight inspection unit’s (FIU) strategy to trade the Cessna S550 for a second-hand aircraft and use the current equipment, buying a second plane upon an increase in business.
  • On 19 March, 2018 the Sacaa received a letter from the minister of transport granting approval to borrow funds in the amount equivalent to $8 million to acquire an aircraft in terms of Section 66(3)(c) of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA).

The minutes pointed to the aircraft posing risks to the Sacaa airports calibration business and governance, which included:

• Reputational harm to the Sacaa “as there will be poor service delivery”.
• Inability to provide current services and secure new clients.
• Increased safety risk brought about by the unpredictability of some of the ageing components of the aircraft.
• Parts of the plane not readily available due to age.
• Non-compliance to the PFMA and National Treasury, leading to a possible adverse audit findings and irregular expenditure.

According to the Sacaa accident and incident investigations department report of 2019, the aircraft showed several mechanical faults, with the crew at some stage having had to abandon the plane at the Lanseria International Airport.

Said aviation technical expert Sputla Lekalakala, whose wife Tebogo perished in the crash: “Due to the number of defects, within Sacaa they called the aircraft a flying coffin.

“The … aircraft should have been grounded in the interest of safety.”

A Sacaa spokesperson said the crash was under investigation.

–brians@citizen.co.za