SACAA SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT WITH REGARDS TO CERTIFICATES OF AIRWORTHINESS
Midrand. The South African Civil Aviation Authority is both disappointed and shocked with the story reported in the media this morning regarding the issuance and renewal of Airworthiness Certificates. It is unfortunate that information that was responding to a set of questions from Parliament were read out of context without seeking further clarity from the SACAA. It is inaccurate to report that only 42% of aircraft in the SA Register have Certificates of Airworthiness. We believe that this is an irresponsible statement to make.
To set the record straight, the statistics communicated via the parliamentary question stated that the South African Aircraft Register has approximately 12 500 aircraft in the register. Another question inquired about the number of Certificate of Airworthiness (C of A's) that have been issued by the SACAA at that time and the response given was that 5300 C of A's were issued.
The fact of the matter is that not all the aircraft in the aircraft register require a Certificate of Airworthiness. The regulations stipulate that only Type Certified Aircraft (ATC) (Aircraft conforming to ICAO Annex 8) require a Certificate of Airworthiness. Approximately 50% of the aircraft in the register belong to this category. The rest of the other 50% belongs to what is known as the Non-Type Certified Aircraft (NTCA) (Recreation aircraft).
NTCA aircraft require an Authority to Fly permit and not a C of A. Therefore the 5300 Certificates of Airworthiness has been issued to the TCA category. The SACAA issues the initial and renewal Certificates of Airworthiness as well as the initial Authority to Fly permits and the Recreation Aviation Administration of South Africa (RAASA), a designated body looking after this sector of the industry on behalf of the SACAA issues all renewal ATF permits. The statistics in the register are also not static as new aircraft are registered continuously.
It is important to note that aircraft owners may voluntarily decide to ground their own aircraft if they can either not afford to use or maintain them. Also aircraft may be regarded as grounded if they were involved in accidents and are currently the subject of investigations. It remains the duty of each pilot to ensure that the aircraft they fly are maintained and they comply with the SACAA regulations.
The SACAA regulations require that any aircraft flown should have a valid Certificate of Airworthiness or Authority to Fly permit. Should an aircraft be operated without any of these documents then that operator is in fact transgressing the regulations and the necessary enforcement action would be taken against the owner or operator of such aircraft.
Aircraft C of A's are renewable annually according to the Civil Aviation Regulations. The SACAA conducts a physical inspection on the aircraft when the initial C of A is applied for. During the renewal of the C of A, the SACAA reviews all the maintenance documents of the aircraft prior to renewing the C of A. It is the duty of the aircraft owner to present his/her aircraft for maintenance as per the manufacturers manual and a C of A will not be renewed until there is evidence that scheduled maintenance has been carried out on that particular aircraft.
The SACAA finds it very disturbing that an innocent process of providing information could have been read out of context in this way without any clarity being sought from the originators of the information. We certainly believe that more clarity should have been sought before going public with such inaccurate information which will not only damage the reputation of the Regulator and our industry but also the reputation of this country to our international counterparts and potential customers.
The mandate of the SACAA is to regulate civil aviation safety and security and we take this mandate very seriously as ultimately we have a duty to ensure the safety of the lives of all the passengers and crew who fly aircraft in this country.
About the SACAA:
The SACAA promotes and maintains a safe, secure and sustainable civil aviation environment, by regulating and overseeing the functioning and development of the industry in an efficient, cost-effective, and customer-friendly manner according to international standards.
Statement issued by The South African Civil Aviation Authority, October 16 2013
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