The South African Civil
Aviation Authority (Sacaa)
has released its final report
on the SA Airlink accident
in December 2009 at George
Airport and concluded that it
was not possible for the crew
to bring the aircraft to a safe
stop due to the wet runway
surface.
The incident happened
when an Embraer 135-LR
aircraft overran the runway,
burst through a perimeter
fence and ended up on a
public road. The final report
confirms the findings of
the previous interim report
in which the surface of the
runway was also blamed.
The Airports Company
of South Africa (Acsa) has
said it will comment once the
report has been studied. A
spokesperson for the Sacaa
confirmed that the final report
released last Monday (August
27) replaced the interim
report published earlier. The
aviation authority confirmed
that George Airport currently
"meets all requirements as
per international standards"
but said it did not wish to
comment on questions raised
by the report, as Sacaa has
been subpoenaed and was
expected to be called to testify
in court.
The reports by Air Traffic
Control (ATC) showed there
was nothing untoward about
the aircraft's touchdown and
no communication from the
crew to indicate problems.
The Sacaa report again
refers to the likelihood of the
fog spray sealant contributing
to the accident. The sealant
was used during rehabilitation
of the runway in November
and the accident occurred in
early December – the first
rainy spell after its application.
The investigative team said
it was concerned with the
regulatory oversight of the
airport, as the Civil Aviation
Authority had conducted
an operator licence renewal
audit during which no noncompliance
at the airport was
found. The runway resurfacing
was still in progress at the
time, but the fog spray sealant
being used for the runway
surfacing did raise a concern
at the time.
The report continues: "The
fact that no non-compliance
was found could be attributed
to the fact that the audit team
reacted purely on the data
required from their checklist.
“The investigation team
found the checklist to be
lacking critical content,
especially with reference to
the rehabilitation process of a
runway."
CAPTION:
The SA Airlink Embraer photographed exactly a year after the accident at George Airport.
