The South African aviation regulator has grounded 12 aircraft from the fleet of carrier CemAir after finding irregularities in the maintenance procedures of the aircraft.
CemAir operates both scheduled and nonscheduled services in and beyond South Africa.
The South African CAA (SACAA) declined to give details of the aircraft affected, but CemAir’s website lists a mixed fleet of Bombardier CRJ100s, Dash 8 turboprops and Beech 1900D commuter aircraft.
In a statement, the SACAA said the suspension of the aircraft’s certificates of airworthiness was ordered on Feb. 2 after the discovery during an audit by SACAA inspectors that some aircraft serviced at CemAir’s aircraft maintenance organization had been released back to service or cleared as airworthy by unqualified personnel.
“This practice poses an imminent danger for crew members, passengers and the public at large, and has a direct impact on aviation safety, since the airworthiness status of the aircraft concerned cannot be confirmed and/or is questionable,” the authority said in a statement.
The SACAA added it had received full cooperation from the airline and would provide the company with any assistance possible to help resolve the matter.
Calls to the airline’s phone number were met with a recorded message saying, “The system is congested” and an email requesting information was not answered.
The suspension was initially planned to end after 24 hours, but an SACAA spokesman told ATW Feb. 5 that the situation had not changed.
“The SACAA can confirm that both parties met over the weekend. During the meeting, the operator agreed to make the necessary resources available to ensure full compliance with the Civil Aviation Regulations. Likewise, the SACAA committed to making resources available to review submitted documentation, soon after it is received,” it said in a further statement.
source:ATW
