A thorough inquiry needed into Sacaa

The investigation into the crash of a jet operated by the SA Civil Aviation Authority (Sacaa) has opened up a can of worms.

Even so, the response by the organisation – in publicly attacking Ethiopian air crash investigators who carried out the probe – is extraordinary.

The Ethiopians – whose country runs the biggest airline on the continent and who are fully qualified and recognised internationally – were only brought in by the department of transport in South Africa because the families of the three Sacaa employees who died were worried they might not get justice.

And, going by the Sacaa’s own initial report and the Ethiopian probe, the family certainly had grounds to be concerned. The South African investigation blamed pilot error for the crash of the Cessna outside George two years ago.

The plane had been carrying out calibration work for the Sacaa on the systems at the airport at George.

The Ethiopians pointed to pilot errors as a factor, but also noted that the aircraft was not airworthy, it had a history of mechanical problems (which had not been rectified and signed off in accordance with procedure) and the pilot had not been recently assessed in recovering from dangerous situations … as is mandated by civil aviation regulations.

The Sacaa claims it was not afforded a full opportunity to comment on the final Ethiopian report, which contained “gross mistakes and inaccurate references”, which could “compromise the integrity and accuracy” of the report.

This unprecedented fight between two sets of aviation experts, coupled with the alleged compliance failures on the part of the Sacaa, raise worrying questions about safety in South African skies, given that the authority is the one supervising that very area.

At the very least, there must be a thorough inquiry into the entire workings and structure of the body.