GEORGE NEWS - A potentially serious accident involving two planes was averted at the George Airport on Monday 23 August. This came to light in a preliminary report following an investigation by the South African Civil Aviation Authority's (Sacaa) accident and incident investigations (AIID) section.
The preliminary report was released two weeks ago.
The manager of the George Airport, Brenda Vorster, confirmed the incident on Tuesday 28 September and said that two airlines were involved.
"The airlines are Airlink EMB-135KL, and Cemair EMB-135KL. There were people on board, Airlink had three crew members and 28 passengers. Cemair also had three crew members and 38 passengers," she said.
"We regard this as a serious potential incident. ATC, ATNS, and Sacaa are currently investigating this issue."
According to the preliminary report, a Cemair Bombardier CL-600-2B19 aircraft took off from Runway 29 at George Airport at 05:46, following the unmanned aerodrome procedure.
At the same time, an Airlink Embraer EMB-135KL aircraft that took off from Cape Town International Airport at 05:20, was cleared by approach control for landing at George Airport.
According to a notice to airmen (NOTAM) that was issued to all flight crew on 16 June this year, approach control at the George Airport opens at 05:30, and the tower opens at 05:45.
The preliminary report states that at 05:45, approach control instructed Link621 to stop the descent at 8 000ft, which was acknowledged. At 05:47, approach control instructed Link621 to turn right on a heading of 165° and to descend to 6 000ft.
At 05:47:20Z, KEM125 called approach control: "Climbing to 5 000ft heading 210°". KEM125 was instructed to "squawk 3271" and "to climb to FL150".
At 05:47 Link621 was instructed to make a descent to 4 500ft and, 40 seconds later, the aircraft was instructed to descend further to 3 500ft. At 05:48:48Z, Link621 was cleared for "visual approach Runway 11 with no further restrictions", and radar control was terminated. The aircraft landed at 05:54.
In the report the incident is described as "serious". Both aircraft were tracked on Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR).
The findings state that fine weather conditions prevailed at the time of the incident, and visibility was good.
From the evidence available, preliminary findings were made with respect to this serious incident.
These shall not be read as apportioning blame or liability to any particular organisation or individual. The preliminary report recommends that in the interest of aviation safety, the tower and approach control stations at George Airport must open at the same time. The rational as to why the two stations opened at different times could not be determined with certainty.
The AIID investigation is ongoing and will look into all other aspects of this serious incident, which may or may not have safety implications.
The full report can be read on the website of the South African Civil Aviation Authority.
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