Agency Hopes To Curtail Disproportionate Number Of Air Accidents

In an effort to make flying in African airspace a safer endeavor, the African Civil Aviation Agency (ACAA) was inaugurated last week.

The purpose of the ACAA is to provide integrated leadership and to develop implementation of a unified strategy to improve African commercial aviation safety and security. It will standardize and supervise licensing, training and inspections, according to the agency.

"Like the rest of the world, Africa is trying to standardize and have a uniform liberalized airspace, and you can't do that with 54 different civil aviation authorities," ACAA chief executive officer Mwangi wa Kamau said Wednesday.

The agency will be based Windhoek, the Namibian capital. It will oversee five regional network bodies consisting of Libya (North Africa), Ethiopia (East Africa), Cameroon (Central Africa), Nigeria (West Africa) and South Africa (Southern Africa), according to the South African Mail and Guardian.

African aviation accounts for just three percent of global air traffic, but has a disproportionate number of aviation-related accidents.

"At the moment we stand at 17 percent or just under one in five of all fatal aircraft accidents in the world," wa Kamau said.

He says the situation is caused by not only a continental increase in air traffic and better reporting of accidents but also a lack of responsibility on the part of pilots.

A "culture of patronage" exists among pilots in Africa, he said, and they often feel and show more loyalty to their employers than to their passengers.

"What we are trying to do is develop a culture of responsibility, with or without the long arm of the law looking over your shoulder," he said.

Not only will such a shift in attitude help decrease the accident rate but it will also help retain qualified aviation employees, according to Deutsche Presse-Agentur.

"If the ACAA can ensure that aviators are certified and paid according to international standards, they will be able to help ensure air travel in Africa is deemed safe," said wa Kamau.

They'd better hurry. Africa's fleet of commercial aircraft is predicted to more than double by 2025. The latest global forecast by Airbus expects a growth of 5.4 percent over the next 20 years, compared to the 4.8 percent worldwide.

FMI: www.afro-caa.com