[imagesource: Twitter / @A380Capt_Tumi]

Flying remains a very safe way to travel, thanks in large part to the stringent rules in place that govern the industry.

You would expect a body like the SA Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) to play things by the book, but tragically that wasn’t the case in January 2020 when a calibration plane crashed into a mountain near George amidst inclement weather.

The plane was operated by SACAA, and all three crew members died in the crash

Last week, a report which looked into the crash revealed a number of damning findings. These included that “the aircraft’s Flight Data Recorder failed to record nine mandatory parameters” and the “Flight Data Recorder had not received its annual inspection, which rendered the aircraft’s Certificate of Airworthiness invalid”.

News24 has the full findings of the report here, but let’s turn our attention to the Carte Blanche segment that aired recently:

It was meant to be a routine calibration flight from George airport but, within hours, one of the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) own planes crashed – killing all three people on board.

Two years later, a report into what caused the accident has finally been released, but critical questions remain unanswered.

In a Carte Blanche exclusive, a former insider speaks out on the accident, turning a spotlight on the CAA and its own safety protocols.

‘Time on the ground means money wasted’ is just one of the damning lines from their investigation:

[sources:news24&carteblanche]