SA civil aviation industry undergoing safety audit

A SAFETY audit into the South African civil aviation industry has been launched by the global oversight body to ensure the country’s standards are up to scratch.

International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) inspectors arrived over the weekend and will be conducting an audit on the country’s aviation safety oversight systems over the next two weeks.

The South African aviation watchdog, the Civil Aviation Authority (Sacaa), said the ICAO was a United Nations specialised agency tasked with managing civil aviation matters across the world. The ICAO team will be ensuring South Africa conforms to global civil aviation safety norms.

Transport Minister Joe Maswanganyi welcomed the team at the Sacaa Midrand offices on Monday.

He said the country had an impeccable zero fatality rate in commercial operations.

“The number of accidents has been declining since the 2013-14 financial year, when 144 accidents were reported,” Maswanganyi said.

“Four years later, the number has dropped by a massive 50% to 72 aircraft accidents.”

He credited the decline to various safety interventions.

Sacaa director Poppy Khoza said preparation for the audit had started as far back as 2013, after a similar one.

“We will be delighted, if we do not attract any adverse findings, and if we could help improve South Africa’s current rating, which is at 84% and still significantly higher than the world average of 60%,” she said.