Question NW3136 to the Minister of Transport

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08 September 2015 - NW3136

Profile picture: Bozzoli, Prof B

Bozzoli, Prof B to ask the Minister of Transport

(1)(a) How many inspections has the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) conducted at the SA Flying Training Academy in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012, (iv) 2013 and (v) 2014, (b) what were the findings of those inspections and (c) who signed off on those findings; (2) in cases where problems were identified by the CAA, (a) what recommendations were made to remedy the problems, (b) what records are there that the problems were indeed remedied, (c) who signed off on the reports of the problems and (d) what remedial action was taken?

Reply:

South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA)

  1. (a)The South African Civil Aviation Authority conducted inspections at the SA Flying Training Academy in terms of two Air Operating Certificates (AOC) namely the Flight Operations Part 141 (Aviation Training Organisation) as well as the Aviation Maintenance Organisation (AMO) that maintains the fleet of the Part 141 Operations. The audits were conducted in (i) 2010 (ii) 2011 (iii) 2012 (iv) 2013 and (v) 2014. (b) listed below are a summary of the findings per year. (c) All Audit findings are signed off by an Airworthiness Review panel prior to any approval being granted.  

   (i) In 2010 the following audits were carried out:

  In the Flight Operations Part 141 unit - one (1) audit was conducted with no findings.

In the Airworthiness General Aircraft (AMO) unit - a total of six (6) audits were conducted which included a Surveillance audit; Amendment audit and Renewal audits, (b) a total of 27 findings were identified which comprised a lack of documentation, shortage of personnel and tools. Two (2) follow up inspections were called for by the Review board.

(ii) In 2011 the following audits were carried out:

In the Flight Operations Part 141 unit – one audit was conducted with no findings.

In the Airworthiness General Aircraft (AMO) unit - a total of 17 audits and inspections were conducted including Surveillance audits; Amendment audits, Renewal audits and Aircraft Inspections, (b) a total of 34 findings were identified. The type of findings included lack of documentation, shortage of personnel and tools as well as not closing previous audit findings. On Aircraft inspections it was found that defects were not being logged or repaired.

(iii) In 2012 the following audits were carried out:

In the Flight Operations Part 141 unit – two (2) audits were conducted and two (2) findings relating to lack of management and quality control.

In the Airworthiness General Aircraft unit - a total of seven (7) audits were conducted including Surveillance audits; Amendment audits, Renewal audits and Aircraft Inspections, (b) a total of 15 findings were identified. The type of findings identified included a lack of documentation and publications, shortage of personnel and tools as well as not closing previous audit findings. On Aircraft inspections it was found that defects were not being logged or repaired. Maintenance was not recorded correctly.

(iv)  In 2013 the following audits were carried out:

In the Flight Operations Part 141 unit - a total of 2 audits were conducted and seven (7) findings were identified including lack of management, documentation, publication and quality control.

In the Airworthiness General Aircraft unit – a total of six (6) audits including Surveillance audits, Amendment audits, Renewal audits and Aircraft Inspections, (b) a total of 21 findings were identified including lack of documentation, shortage of personnel and tools as well as not closing previous audit findings. On Aircraft inspections it was found that defects were not being logged or repaired. Maintenance was not recorded correctly.

(v) In 2014 The following audits were carried out:

In the Flight Operations Part 141 unit - a total of 1 audit was and 0 findings were recorded.

In the Airworthiness General Aircraft unit – a total of five (5) audits were conducted including Surveillance audits; Amendment audits, Renewal audits and Aircraft Inspections audits, (b) a total of 22 findings were identified including a lack of documentation and publications, shortage of personnel and tools as well as not closing previous audit findings. On Aircraft inspections it was found that defects were not being logged or repaired. Maintenance was not recorded correctly and a serious finding of an incorrect engine fitted to an aircraft. These can also be linked to Quality and Management control.

in cases where problems were identified by the CAA, (a) what recommendations were made to remedy the problems, (b) what records are there that the problems were indeed remedied, (c) who signed off on the reports of the problems and (d) what remedial action was taken?

(2) In cases where problems were identified by the SACAA, (a) the SACAA does not make recommendations but the following process ensues after an audit where findings are identified: the Civil Aviation Regulations requires that the operator submits a Corrective Action Plan (CAP) that outlines how and when the operator will close the identified findings. Should the SACAA be satisfied that the CAP addresses all deficiencies, they allow the operator to continue with closing the findings. If the findings are major the SACAA will schedule an ad hoc inspection to verify if the findings are closed however if the findings are regarded as minor then the SACAA will verify if they were addressed in their following annual audit. In the case of the Flight Operations Part 141 operations SAFTA didn’t present with any major findings and therefore no further action was taken. In 2010 when the AMO started up the lack of personnel was identified and follow up audits were conducted to ensure that the maintenance could be conducted on the SAFTA fleet. Throughout its existence, the same personnel shortage was noted and after each of these remedial plans were put into place to employ or contract more personnel. These contracts unfortunately didn’t last very long and the AMO suffered from a high staff turnover. In one particular case the QA manager was replaced three times in a period of 6 months. Currently they have only one certifying engineer left. In January 2015 a combined Flight Operations and Airworthiness in-depth surveillance was conducted at the facility. Seven (7) major findings and nine (9) findings were identified, which include process control and maintenance records, management responsibility and quality control, publications and documentation availability and utilisation, lack of defect rectification on aircraft. As with every audit a corrective action plan was submitted by the client to the SACAA. This action plan was found to be satisfactory in addressing identified findings.

In July 2015 surveillance was conducted on SAFTA following numerous Mandatory Occurrence Reports (MOR). During this surveillance 11 major findings and 2 findings were identified in the AMO of the SAFTA operations. These findings were similar in nature to those of the January audit but it was clear that the situation had deteriorated. As a remedial action a recommendation has been made to the enforcement department of the SACAA to suspend the operations of the AMO.

SAFTA’s Part 141 (Flight School) operations attracted 5 minor findings that will be addressed by the Instructors at the school. For the continued operations of the school, SAFTA will have to use an alternative and accredited AMO as there is no compelling evidence to close down the school.

(b) Records relating to these inspections are kept at the SACAA records management department.

(c) The reports are signed off firstly by the inspectors conducting the inspection or audit and thereafter the decision is verified by a Review Board or panel.

(d) In general the findings were similar in nature from all the inspections conducted, as required by the Promotion of Justice Act (Act 3 of 2000); approval holder was granted an opportunity to remedy the non-compliances discovered during our inspections. And this was indeed the case, however we have taken cognisance that the situation is deteriorating and we have now embarked on a much more comprehensive enforcement action against the AMO since our last inspection.

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