Bay airport drill nosedives
Ronelle Ramsamy
THE Richards Bay Airport will have to redo an emergency drill exercise within 60 days in order for the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) to accept the exercise as being a 'success'.
That is the official confirmation from the SACAA, which cited a number of deficiencies during the planning process of last week's 'staged' plane crash at the local airport.
The drill formed part of a bi-annual requirement by the SACAA to assess the airport's readiness to deal with any disaster before issuing new licences.
According to SACAA Senior Manager: Communications and Safety and Security Promotions, Phindiwe Gwebu, they were awaiting a comprehensive report from the airport.
'In accordance with the Civil Aviation Regulation Part 139.02.21, the airport authority has 14 days to provide this office with a comprehensive report regarding the exercise. No report has been received yet.
'For SACAA to accept the exercise as being a success, they would have to redo the exercise within 60 days, or prior to the licence renewal. There were a number of deficiencies during the planning process and the fire presented did not adequately simulate an aircraft fire,' said Gwebu.
Attempts to obtain comment from the Richards Bay Airport management proved unsuccessful.
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