GEORGE NEWS - Another SA Airlink flight from Cape Town to George was cancelled on Monday morning. It was the flight that should have brought Robin Carlisle, Western Cape minister of Transport, to the Garden Route to preside at the opening of the new road in Knysna. Inconvenienced passengers phoned the George Herald to air their frustration.
SA Airlink, that has received a lot of criticism since the incident of 9 December last year when one of its aircraft ended up on a public road next to the George Airport, has received some support from industry figures after this last incident.
The airport manager could not be reached, but several aviation experts the George Herald contacted had more sympathy with the airline than the airport.

Aviation analyst Linden Birns said the final SA Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) report has to be awaited but commented that there is ‘clearly’ a problem with the runway surface.
Birns said questions need to be asked about the specifications, design, tender and the authorisation that was granted for the previous resurfacing.
He also said the entire issue is central to a legal tussle between the Airports Company (Acsa), the Department of Transport, SACAA and Airlink’s insurers.
"The Department of Transport is sitting with a conflict of interest. On one hand, it is Acsa’s shareholder. On the other hand, it sets policy and ‘owns’ the SACAA.
"The SACAA in turn has its own set of conflicting interests: It is responsible for prescribing aerodrome and airport runway standards. But it is also responsible for investigating aircraft accidents and incidents. In effect, it has to be law-maker, policeman and judge.
"Airlink’s insurers probably believe they have a strong case to pass on liability to Acsa and/or SACAA.
"Acsa and SACAA will be treading carefully to ensure that the runway is brought up to standard, but will do so in a way that allows them to sidestep accepting liability for the Airlink accident," Birns said.

Airlink pilots highly esteemed
"SA Airlink pilots are generally held in high esteem by their peers as they often have to land at secondary airports where other pilots don’t have the experience," said Garry Marshall, chief executive of the SA Express Parcel Association and a former pilot.
Industry authority and editor of SA Flyer Magazine, Guy Leitch, said the initial findings of the SACAA seem to indicate that the runway at George Airport is to blame for the problem.
"The investigation showed the SA Airlink craft flew within the specifications and approached correctly. There were no slots cut into the runway and the wheels never got any purchase. Although reverse thrust might have helped the aircraft to brake it is not the only factor the pilot relies on," he said. "It does seem that Acsa was at fault and the runway was not safe."
Upon investigation the George Herald found that Embraer 135 aircraft similar to those in the SA Airlink fleet land at all of London’s airports all the time, where adverse weather is the norm rather than the exception. Airports in London include the relatively small Luton Airport.

Contradiction between authorities
Acsa spokesperson Colin Naidoo confirmed that the company is waiting for the SACAA’s go-ahead to proceed with the resurfacing of the airport’s runway.
The civil aviation authority disagreed with the view. "The assertion that Acsa is awaiting the SACAA’s ‘approval for a go-ahead’ is not correct. The fact is that the SACAA, in this case, is not interested in the nitty-gritty of the process, but rather the outcome of the process," said Kabelo Ledwaba, SACAA communications manager.
"That means the SACAA expects ope-rators to follow applicable international standards and norms, suitably adapted to local climatological and wear requirements. The SACAA’s role in this regard would be (to determine) whether the facility is meeting the required performance standard or not. In this case, the SACAA and Acsa have agreed that a test will be conducted this coming Friday on a resurfaced test strip in order to ascertain the compliance thereof with friction and texture requirements, thereafter Acsa will continue with the resurfacing of the entire runway.
"One can say that this is a logical step to take, especially when considering that the resurfacing costs for this runway could run into several millions," said Ledwaba.

George Airport manager, Brenda Moses, announced at a World Cup planning meeting in George on Tuesday that work on George Airport’s runway is starting on Wednesday (yesterday) and that it will definitely be completed by 18 May. She also stressed that the work is being done to make the surface rougher to provide extra grip during wet conditions. Acsa maintained throughout the whole saga that the runway has all along complied to national aviation standards.

Article: Anica Kruger