Whistleblower manuscript alleges years of failures at SACAA amid 2020 jet crash inquest request
SACAA allegedly overlooked repeated defects and safety risks involving the aircraft that crashed near George in 2020.
A whistleblower's manuscript has revealed years of management failures and safety concerns within the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA). The document, drafted by former flight inspector Jeremiah Visser, alleges that SACAA failed to prevent the 2020 crash of a Cessna Citation aircraft, which resulted in the death of three people.
According to the manuscript, the aircraft, registered ZS-CAR, had a history of airworthiness and maintenance issues that SACAA neglected to address. Captain Thabiso Tolo, the pilot who died in the crash, raised concerns about the aircraft's condition in 2016, a claim supported by maintenance records. The manuscript lists repeated technical problems, including cabin depressurisation, landing gear issues, smoke and oil smells in the cockpit, and various other defects, which were allegedly ignored by SACAA and the Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation Division.
Visser's manuscript also includes allegations of expired insurance and a missing certificate of airworthiness, which the aircraft was found to be operating with. A former SACAA flight inspector, speaking on condition of anonymity, corroborated some of Visser's claims, stating that the problems with the calibration aircraft and the Flight Inspection Unit predated the accident by several years.
The inspector recalled discovering the aircraft's insurance had expired four months prior to a 2011 ramp inspection and refusing to approve the unit's Air Operator Certificate on multiple occasions.
The manuscript also detailed a serious collision-avoidance incident involving the aircraft less than three months before the crash. On November 7, 2019, a South African Express passenger aircraft detected ZS-CAR as a collision threat, generating an urgent instruction for the pilots to avoid the other aircraft. Visser noted that ZS-CAR could not generate the same type of instruction, highlighting a potential connection between the two incidents.
Despite the damning allegations, SACAA disputes several key findings in the Ethiopian investigation report. The regulator's spokesperson, Sisa Majola, declined to comment further on the matter.
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