South Africa’s SA Airlink refunding, re-routing flights after 14 of its planes were grounded over safety concerns

SA Airlink, based in South Africa, continues to refund its passengers after the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of South Africa grounded 14 of its Jetstream aircraft a few days ago after withdrawing the planes’ airworthiness status over safety concerns.

The Jetstream planes were grounded following a series of accidents and near-accidents that occurred over the last few months. Preliminary investigations showed that the incidents were caused because of a problem with a component of the aircraft’s engine.

Karin Murray, an official of SA Airlink, said the airline and the manufacturer of the grounded planes are holding talks.

The official stressed that it is “business as usual” at SA Airlink and that the airline is re-routing flights wherever it can. SA Airlink is contacting passengers to know whether they want refunds and make their own travel arrangements, and also helping the passengers with that.

According to SA Airlink, maintenance connected with the engine is the responsibility of BAE Systems, the manufacturer of Jetstream aircraft.

In a statement, BAE Systems said it is “confident” that its Jetstream plane and its engine, made by Honeywell, is certain to meet international aviation safety standards.

Karin Murray, the official of SA Airlink, told reporters that the process of rectifying the technical glitches in the Jetstream planes would resume after the Christmas break.

The other aircraft types that SA Airlink operates – the BAE 146 and Embraer 135 – continue to operate,” the official added.

She explained that SA Airlink has been allowed to operate flights after the airline submitted a ‘corrective action plan’ that detailed how it would deal with the findings that an audit, conducted by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of South Africa, had highlighted.

A spokesman of the Civil Aviation Authority said that inspectors of the aviation regulator are scrutinizing SA Airlink to see whether the airline complies with the corrective action plan.

The findings of the Civil Aviation Authority’s audit of SA Airlink, the CAA observations spokesman added, could not be made public. However, he said the audit related to 3 pertaining to SA Airlink’s flight operations and 12 observations regarding aircraft maintenance.

In a press release, Obert Chakarisa, general manager of Aircraft Safety of South Africa’s Civil Aviation Authority, said that while the aviation regulator periodically subject airlines to audits, the present audit of SA Airlink is different in the sense that it is more comprehensive and conducted with double the usual number of CAA inspectors.

These inspectors, Chakarisa added, will examine the entire system, and not just conduct random checks, and will be on site till all the security-related problems  pertaining to SA Airlink are rectified.

The privately owned SA Airlink, which has developed into the first feeder network of South Africa, operates direct flights to many popular destinations within South Africa as well as to towns and cities in the neighbouring countries.