SACAA confirms that half of landing systems at OR Tambo International are offline

The SA Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) has confirmed that two of the OR Tambo International Airport’s four Instrument Landing Systems (ILS), which assists with poor visibility landing, have been turned-off due the lapse in calibration exemption period.

The Citizen reported on Wednesday how pilots were “flying blind” into some of the country’s major airports, due to glitches with the ILS, a system that operates by sending radio waves downrange from the runway end guiding the approaching aircraft onto the runway in poor visibility.

The aviation authority said in a statement that the OR Tambo International Airport’s two ILS instruments were switched off on Monday, but refuted reports that the airport will be downgraded or closed.

The King Shaka International Airport has been downgraded to a lower instrument meteorological usage level as a result of two ILSs being switched-off and other airports affected were the Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport and George Airport, whose calibration exemption periods have also expired.

Kabelo Ledwaba, SACAA spokesperson, said these were the only airports whose ILSs have been switched off and that the rest, even though they were also nearing expiry during the month of August and later on in the year, were still operational.

The ILS calibration certificate glitch was as a direct consequence of the loss of the SA Civil Aviation Authority’s calibration aircraft that crashed in January.

The CAA’s Flight Inspections Unit Cessna Citation aircraft crashed after take-off in Mossel Bay near George, Western Cape, in January, killing Captain Thabiso Tolo, First Officer Tebogo Lekalakala and Flight Inspector Gugu Comfort Mnguni.

Ledwaba said after the crash, a service provider was appointed in the country to calibrate the landing and navigation equipment, through an open tender process as prescribed.

He said a Service Level Agreement was concluded on 17 April 2020 with the contractor but said that as the service provider going to utilise an aircraft based in Europe, they experienced major delays in receiving a Foreign Operator’s Permit from the International Air Service Licensing Council, which was eventually granted on 19 June 2020.

“Due to further delays resultant from the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions, the crew work permits, and visas were eventually granted, and the SACAA was duly informed on 31 July 2020,” Ledwaba said.

He said based on the assurances given to the SACAA by the service provider, the aircraft was expected to arrive in the country by the end of this week, following an earlier promise that the aircraft will most possibly arrive on 09 August.

“The explanation provided by the service provider was that they needed to ensure that Flight Inspection Systems had to undergo some maintenance as it has been operating during the delay period. As soon as the aircraft arrives, the calibration programme will prioritise those airports which are negatively affected to date,” Ledwaba said.

He said regulated safety protocols required that when an ILS was not functioning, or its certification had expired, the affected airport must be downgraded to a lower instrument usage level.

Ledwaba said as international protocol dictates, the status of the facilities at the affected airport are published via a notice to airmen (NOTAM) aimed at assisting pilots to plan their flights safely, prior to departure.

“Most importantly, the ILS is just one of the few landing and take-off techniques that are used. This simply means that you can still land without an ILS, however, visibility on the runway must be determined first,” he said.

According to Ledwaba, the ILS could be non-functional due to a lapse in the approval certificate, which demands that the system was switched off to avoid pilots depending on it to provide information for landing and take-off purposes, especially during bad weather.

The other reason for a defect, in which case there may be a need to switch it off pending maintenance and calibration, even if the calibration certificate expiry date is not yet due.

He said assertions that suggest all ILSs at all SA’s airports were switched-off and not functioning were misguided.

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