Ghana Civil Aviation Authority partly blamed for starbow crash

The Bureau of Public Safety has partially blamed the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) for the Starbow accident which almost claimed the lives of 68 passengers aboard its plane. 

According to the Bureau, the Authority could have prevented the incident if it had ensured that an earlier airworthiness directive regarding the seats of the Pilots and Co-Pilot were implemented. 

The Kumasi bound aircraft overshot the runway at Kotoka International Airport as it attempted to take off in November last year. 

A statement signed by its Executive Director Nana Yaw Akwada, warned that the country's air safety is endangered as the ad hoc investigators of the Starbow crash treated GCAA with kid gloves.

The Bureau said it has taken further steps to write to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to subject processes, procedures and personnel of the Authority to an audit.

It is further calling on parliament to investigate the matter as this poses a threat to passenger safety.

The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority and other stakeholders in the aviation sector have often been criticized for not cracking the whip enough on these airline operators, hence putting the lives of passengers at risk.

Proffering stringent measures to reverse the trend, the BPS called on the Parliamentary Committees on Transport, Defense and Interior to scrutinize the accident investigation report and ensure that the GCAA is made to sit up as has been done to the Operator (Starbow) and the flight crew to ensure safer air transportation in Ghana.
 
The BPS also called for the creation of an independent body to investigate such accidents.

They want government “to expand the aviation industry so as to build confidence in the sector.”

SOURCE: myjoyonline
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