Aviation authority concerned at ‘spike’ in aircraft crashes
The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) is concerned about the recent spike in aircraft accidents, with 14 recorded in January.
SACAA says four of those crashed were fatal and claimed the lives of eight people.
"While air transport still remains the safest among all modes of transport, to us as the regulator, one life lost is just one too many," says Poppy Khoza, who leads the SACAA as Director of Civil Aviation.
She says the last time South Africa experienced such a high number of accidents was in October 2008, subsequently dubbed ‘black October’, when 20 accidents were recorded in that month, resulting in eight fatal accidents that claimed 26 lives.
"Whilst the accident rate is not currently at that level, it is quite concerning that we have had so many accidents in just one month," Khoza says.
The caution came on the same day that a pilot was killed in a light aircraft crash on a farm outside Koster in North West.
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