ICAO safety audit hangs over NAC’s head

The Namibia Airports Company (NAC) is scrambling to get its house in order ahead of a critical International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) audit scheduled for next month, which will determine whether the country’s airports meets global aviation safety standards.

Namibian Sun understands stakeholders in the public aviation industry are running ragged to ensure that recommendations - emanating from a devastating 2014 audit which at the time resulted in the Hosea Kutako International Airport (HKIA) being downgraded - are implemented.

The universal safety oversight audit programme for Namibia will take place between 6 and 18 March.

HKIA was downgraded in 2014 after it failed to meet ICAO standards on fire and maintenance as well as upkeep of the runway. The downgrading, at the time, forced major airlines with bigger aircrafts to reroute their flights to neighbouring countries. However, the airport’s rescue and firefighting category was subsequently increased from Category 5 to Category 9 after the shortcomings were addressed.

The works ministry, Namibia Civil Aviation Authority and NAC have been putting measures in place to avert any downgrade threats, but workers at the airports company who spoke to Namibian Sun claim the last-ditch efforts will not yield the desired outcome.

Almost a decade later

In June last year, according to information obtained by this publication, works minister John Mutorwa approved the establishment of a high-level executive committee to address operational concerns flagged in the July 2014 final report of the ICAO-coordinated validation mission that conducted the audit.

At the time, serious safety hazards and operational shortcomings were flagged at the country’s largest airport.

These range from a lack of maintenance and operational staff, no service-level agreements for the removal of disabled aircrafts, a faulty fire truck compromising the protection of the aerodrome and a lack of mandatory instruction and information signs at some airports, risking the landing of aircrafts.

Critics have since questioned why government only started tending to the recommendations by establishing a committee almost a decade after the recommendations were made.

In fact, Namibian Sun has reliably established that NAC recently recruited about 50 firefighters as part of efforts to avoid another downgrade.

This is despite these firefighters - who are currently on the NAC’s payroll - complaining that their concerns are not being heeded because they have to make use of dilapidated equipment and worn-out uniforms, while the certifications of some have long expired because the company has not made provision to send them for refresher courses.

No panic

But despite workers’ worries, NAC head Bisey Uirab said there is no need to press the panic button because they are “hard at work to address the shortcomings”.

“We will not be downgraded. I am confident that we will put up a good case. There is no country that gets a 100% rating, not even developed countries. We are working hard and we are ready,” he said.

He, however, referred questions about the progress of the high-level executive committee to the works ministry’s executive director, Esther Kaapanda.

Kaapanda asked for questions to be sent to her, but did not answer them as she claimed to be rushing off to a memorial service for late president Hage Geingob.

Action list

In June 2023, Uirab issued an internal circular with an action list with timelines to address the ‘limitations’ at Namibian airports.

According to this list, there is a lack of service-level agreements for the maintenance of critical airport equipment, resulting in unsafe aircraft operations at the Andimba Toivo ya Toivo Airport at Ondangwa.

He also pointed out that at that facility, procurement requests for safety concerns are not carried out on time.

The deadline for administrative officers to handle requests and establish agreements with local dealers Deutz and Volvo was set for 29 September 2023.

Uirab also projected that by 31 August 2023, the inadequate operational and maintenance staff compliment should have been addressed, with training set to have started in October 2023. However, at the same time, he stated that there was a lack of appropriate training programmes and plans for operational and maintenance personnel.

He stipulated that these training programmes should have been finalised by 31 July 2023 and the service agreement for the removal of disabled aircraft by November 2023.

At the Walvis Bay International Airport, Uirab highlighted the lack of mandatory instruction and information signs, posing a risk to the landing of aircrafts, while there was a lack of service-level agreements for the appropriate maintenance of the water reticulation system.

One pump at this facility was unserviceable and the fire truck faulty, while the service-level agreement for disabled aircraft removal was pending.

A deadline was set to have one fire truck purchased by the end of July 2023 and a second by 25 February 2025.

At HKIA, the NAC CEO cautioned that the removal of obstacles such as decommissioned equipment had not been done because of a lack of money, and that these obstacles posed a threat to aircraft operations.

[email protected]