SACAA suspends CemAir’s air operator certificates

14th December 2018 By: Tasneem Bulbulia - Senior Contributing Editor Online

CemAir can no longer operate as an airline or air operator or fly any of its 21 aircraft, following a decision by the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) to suspend two of the airline’s air operator certificates (AOCs).

The suspension became effective at around 15:30 on December 13.

Moreover, the SACAA’s audit team has also recommended that the director of civil aviation revoke CemAir’s AOCs.

The SACAA’s decision follows a thorough review of CemAir’s corrective action plan (CAP), which sought to address the initial findings unveiled during an annual renewal audit, conducted this week, the authority said.

The CAP or proposed remedial actions by CemAir were found to be unsatisfactory and did not adequately address the findings that were initially raised.

Further, the authority said records in its possession demonstrated that CemAir had been operating some aircraft outside of permissible loading (weight and balance) limits; meaning the weight of passengers and baggage declared by the flight crew were not the same as those recorded by the service provider contracted by CemAir.

In a statement on Thursday, the SACAA noted that despite being issued with a prohibition order, CemAir knowingly continued to fly its aircraft in contravention of the applicable regulatory prescripts.

The SACAA indicated that this constituted a material contravention that threatened aviation safety and displayed disregard for the role and responsibilities of the regulator.

“In effect, and worryingly so, the CAP and subsequent action by the operator indicate that there has been material departure and a dereliction of duty on the part of the accountable manager, which clearly violates regulatory provisions.

“These myriad of identified noncompliances bring to the fore the fact that the actions and conduct of this operator pose a serious and immediate threat to safety. As such, if the SACAA does not take immediate action to stop the misconduct, it would inadvertently abandon its role as mandated by the Department of Transport on behalf of the people of South Africa and the global aviation community,” the authority stated.