Cape Town – The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) has reportedly said that it is looking into an incident in which a British Airways plane that was travelling from Gqeberha to Cape Town experienced technical difficulties landing on Saturday.
An investigation into the incident may be launched, based on the information gathered, SABC reported.
The incident occurred just a few days after the lifting of a suspension of Comair-operated flights.
According to Times Live, Comair spokesperson Stephen Forbes confirmed that there was an issue with the landing gear on flight BA6324 during final approach on Saturday.
“We confirm that following a landing gear warning indication … on final approach … to Cape Town International Airport the pilot performed standard safety checks and once the correct reading was achieved, a normal landing occurred.
“The safety of our personnel and customers is always our foremost priority.
“We apologise to customers for the resultant 15-minute delay,” the report quoted Comair spokesperson Stephen Forbes as saying.
The South African regulator suspended Comair’s operations for five days on Sunday last week after an investigation uncovered issues posing “an immediate risk to safety and security”.
Comair flights experienced a spate of issues over the past month, according to SACAA, including engine trouble and landing gear malfunctions, AFP reported.
The carrier was asked to show it had complied with safety management regulations and was taking corrective action for the flights to resume.
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After examining the evidence provided by Comair, the suspension was lifted with “immediate effect”, the SACAA said in a statement.
Following the incident on Saturday, there have been calls for Comair’s operating licence to be suspended yet again.
In light of the recent incident, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in a statement over the weekend demanded a “permanent grounding of all Comair-aligned aviation companies”, saying they were posing a “threat to the safety and security of passengers and the country”.
“The situation has reached a level where it now constitutes a security threat…
“This essentially means that this airline was allowed to resume its operations without adequate checks and compliance to technical requirements being met.
“The audit by the South African Civil Aviation Authority was rushed and this was, without a doubt due to undue pressure by commercial interests in the aviation sector to resume operations,” said the EFF.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
Additional reporting by AFP
