Moves to resolve safety and security in aviation industry

Ghana and the United States (US) Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) are working to resolve deficiencies in safety and security oversight in the country’s aviation industry.

The collaboration entails auditing of safety measures in Ghana’s aviation industry against international standards and taking the steps to step up the areas where the standard falls short.

This will lead to the country’s quest for attaining FAA Category II to I and also position the airspace as a preferred safety and security destination in the sub region.

This came up during the 9th Co-operative Development and Operational Safety and Continuing Airworthiness Programme Steering Committee and the Eleventh Plenary of the Banjul Accord Group, held in Accra on Monday.

The country’s airspace - called the Accra Flight Information Region, comprising the airspaces of Togo, Benin, Ghana and a large portion of the Atlantic Ocean has been considered as one of the safest in the world.

This year, Ghana also successfully implemented the Atlantic Ocean Random Route Area programme, a key international aviation requirement, to enable aircrafts that fly over the Atlantic Ocean to fly with minimum wind effect and take advantage of the wind over the Atlantic Ocean.

In a speech read on his behalf at the meeting, Mr. Mike Hammah, Minister of Transport said government was committed to ensuring that Ghana was seen as a shining example of first class aviation safety and security.

“The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority’s (GCAA) efforts to implement the International Civil Aviation Organization and the Federal Aviation Authority Category 1 action plan could not have come at a better time,” he stated.
Air Commodore Kwame Mamphey, Director General of the GCAA, indicated that at the present stage of the aviation industry, the West African sub-region needed to have a strong voice in matters relating to aviation safety and security.He said this could not be achieved on a silver platter and that the sub-region needs to work at it as a strong regional grouping, to ensure first, that the collective airspace goal of safety and admirable security is achieved.

He explained to B&FT that the meeting will afford the member states to exchange resources. He said Ghana did very well to have attained the safety and regulation requirements, which is a very expensive venture.

The 9th Co-operative Development and Operational Safety and Continuing Airworthiness Programme steering committee, and the eleventh plenary of the Banjul Accord Group was among other objectives to provide among the member states in the sub-region a focal point that deals with all questions relating to air operator certification and technical inspections with a view to harmonizing standards and all related policies and procedures.

It was also to facilitate a coordinated approach with regard to shared technical expertise made available to member states in order to avoid duplication of efforts and to ensure that CAA benefit to the greatest extent from these resources.