SA Express Grounded...

[MoreAviation]

News coming in that SA regional airline SA Express has been grounded as of today...

SA Express Gounded...!

SA Express - Wiki



MA

[MoreAviation]

Of course this being South Africa, the whole fiasco may be politically rather than safety or operationally motivated!

MA

[ian16th]

I could be that the paper work isn't up to date, or maybe the bribe is late.

Another reference, but the same story

[Capetonian]

Bound to be politics.

[MoreAviation]

The Sunday Times was reporting the following today...

According to the regulator, a recent inspection of SA Express's equipment found that safety systems had been unable to pick up problems in the system.

"Every time an aircraft is prepared for a flight the airline must give a guarantee that it is airworthy.

"We could not trust that, and that is why we have suspended their flights," according to the aviation authority's executive for aviation safety, Simon Segwabe.

He said the most recent inspection of SA Express, on April 19, had been prompted by the malfunctioning of an aircraft's flight computer mid-flight.

"The pilot relayed this information to the tower, who then, through Air Traffic Navigation Systems, had to inform us.

Segwabe said: "Fortunately, the backup system was able to kick in." Segwabe said there were several such safety occurrences involving SA Express, which had prompted the inspection.

The malfunctioning of an aircraft's flight-management system software could mean that some of its controls would no longer function. Such a malfunction would cause pilots to "fly blind", one of the greatest fears in the industry.

The investigation conducted last week found that the airline's safety monitoring systems were unable to report deficiencies - something the airline has been guilty of on more than one occasion.

The situation has shocked many airline industry executives, with one describing it as a crisis. "There's quite possibly no coming back from this. It's massive: imagine the amount of revenue they stand to lose on a long weekend," said a senior executive at another state airline.

SA Express had been given until Friday to provide a plan to address the deficiencies, but its plan failed to satisfy the regulator. The two parties met again yesterday.

http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/ ... s-grounded

One wonders how all this going to affect SAA, the other parastatal closely linked to SA Express?

An SAA insider said the crisis pointed to financial problems that could be affecting safety and operations.

The airline, which is under the care of Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown, owes SAA's technical division more than R10-million in aircraft service charges.

The latest incident would make SA Express's financial position even more precarious.

"I have noted the decision by the Civil Aviation Authority to temporarily suspend SA Express' air operator certificate," Brown said yesterday.

"I am providing all the necessary support to the management of SA Express to resolve this matter. Therefore I have tasked the department's director-general, Mogokare Seleke, to lead talks with the CAA to resolve this matter," she said.

She said the suspension was massive, not only for SA Express but for sister airline SAA, because the two, although separate entities, shared the same corporate identity and branding.

It is heart breaking to see all the systems and structures (aviation related or not) in the country slowly break down one by one...

MA

[MoreAviation]

And now the SA Express has been "ungrounded" as it were. Only in South Africa (or somewhere else in Africa) could such a total shambles unfold...

http://traveller24.news24.com/News/Flig ... d-20160501

MA

[MoreAviation]

Politics and stupidity uber alles.

MA