Minutes of the Airworthiness Industry workshop held at the ATNS Academy on 28 May 2004

1. Attendance Register

The following members attended the workshop;

Name	Organization	Position
1. Gilbert Thwala	CAA	Acting GM: SO.
2. Obert Chakarisa	“	SM: Airworthiness.
3. Chris Purnell	“	SM: Certification.
4. Carel Raath	“	HOO: Avionics.
5. Andre Swanepoel	“	HOO: NTCA.
6. Peter Mörs	“	PAW Inspector.
7. Cathy Teague	“	AW Inspector.
8. Albert Msithini	“	SAW Inspector.
9. Ishmael Sebogodi	“	AW Inspector.
10. Sello Mfisa	“	AW Inspector.
11. Sam Mpofu	“	AW Inspector.
12. Beatrice Sutton	“	Secretary to SM: Airworthiness
13. Dean Khumalo	“	HOO: Aircraft
14. Peter Mashaba	“	AW Inspector
15. J C.. Minnaar	Safair
16. B.M. Nyatoti	Pratt & Whitney
17. M Mundell	Aeronexus
18. W.M. Carstens	SA Historic Flight
19. P Barnard	Inter Avionics
20. P. Ludick	Inter Avionics
21. J. Bam	Denel
22. W.W. Kinghorn	Denel
23. L.J. Potgieter	Denel
24. J. Sawyer	Air Quarius
25. S. Murphy	Air Quarius
26. P.J. Burmeister	Calibration @ PJB
27. L. Wybenga	Executive Turbine
28. L. Chapman	Nationwide Airline
29. P. Jeffery	Nationwide Airline
30. J. P. S van Dyk	Safair
31. J. P. Van Niekerk	Execujet
31. J. Truter	Grintek
32. W. Moore	Interjet
33. B. Crystal	Execujet
34. R. van Tonder	AMS
35. G.B. Kayser	Gerotek
36. A. Pretorius	NAM
37. J. De Villiers	E.C. Botma – QA
38. S. Bell	Executive Turbine
39. G Havenga	DENEL
40. K. Smith	Executive Turbine
41. P. Martin	Euro Blitz 21
42. B. Friebose	Wings & Tracks
43. M. Cilliers	Century Avionics
44. T.R. Russell	Solenta Aviation
45. Bates Howard	Anglo American
46. M.O. Gomes	RDL
47. V. Selaule	RDL
48. R. Somerville	Flightcraft Aviation
49. C. Meyer	Trolleyart
50. J.C. Coetzee	NAC
51. D. Hudson	NAC
52. G. Bennets	NAC
53. M. Brown	NAC
54. D. Bailey	NAC
55. P. Wilson	Comair
56. G. Rae	Execujet
57. B. Lovell	“
58. W. Muller	Safair
59. C. Bouwer	“
60. R. Linter	SA Airlink
61. V. Bezuidenhout	Star Light Helicopters.
62. R. Vermeulen	“
63. W. Gollnitz	Grintek
64. R. Carrington	Mistral Aviation.
65. P. De Beer	”
66. M. Spence	Ultimate Aircraft
67. T. Davies	Davies Aircraft
68. B. Cohoe	Sky Sprayyers.
69. N. Kleinhans	AG. Sprayers
70. G. Carroll	Aircraft Instruments
71. C. Froomberg	“
72. F A Pretorius	DENEL
73. A Anderson	Safair
74. S Barker	Skycare
75. D Lewis	Safair
76. N Taferner	Calcosa
77. H A Holder	Grintek
78. R vd Westhuizen	WS Thom

2. Welcome:

The meeting was opened by Mr. Thwala who emphasized the need to work in partnership. Efforts by the CAA to improve their service delivery were highlighted.

The industry participants were encouraged to raise any issues they had pertaining to the service delivered by the CAA and to always ensure that all their concerns were always reduced to writing to ensure their speedy resolution.

3. Presentation

The following CAA staff made the following presentations;

3.1. O. Chakarisa

Overview of Airworthiness & Certification Division:

6 An overview of the activities and revenue generated by the Airworthiness Division which total 6 200 and R5.5M respectively were chronicled.

6 CAA Continental and Regional initiatives were also highlighted.

6 Staff recruitment undertaken was spelt out, where 15 new inspectors joined the division.

6 Efforts by the CAA to recover outstanding currency fee payments were confirmed and an apology for clients incorrectly billed for fees they have already paid.

3.2. Carel Raath

AMO/ AME

6 Requirements for AME and AMO issuance were emphasized.

6 Participants, who are Accountable Managers, were encouraged to ensure that they only sign logbooks and records of experience where correct information has been recorded.

3.3. Peter Mörs

Aircraft Logbooks

6 The new logbooks to be circulated were shown electronically and participants were encouraged to correctly enter all the necessary information.

6 Use of tipex was strongly discouraged.

6 New sections that had been added to the new logbooks were shown that included the mass and balance recording sheets.

3.4. Albert Msithini

Avionics Matters

6 New regulations to be introduced were highlighted being;

v RSVM

v TCAS

6 Meeting held in Nairobi and the entire history of the ICAO proposal regarding to RSVM were highlighted.

6 Of concern was the lack of participation by the African states at these important meetings that forge the manner in which future regulations will be implemented.

3.5. Andre Swanepoel

NTC Aircraft

6 Gave a presentation on the various regulations that pertain to the NTCA industry.

6 He emphasized the point that most of the aircraft accidents are currently being recorded in this sector of the industry, hence the need to uplift the maintenance standards.

3.6. Chris Purnell

Certification & Mod Approval Processes

6 Took the workshop through the process of obtaining approvals for the various mechanical modifications.

6 A comparison with the FAA certification system was outlined since our our certification regulations are based on the FAA ones.

6 The industry raised concerns though on the duration it seems to take to get approval for modifications.

6 A commitment to speed up the process was made by Mr. Purnell.

4. Open Forum

A summary of the questions raised by the industry and how the CAA plans to address them is highlighted below;;

Industry Question	CAA Response / Action Plan
NAC still waiting for STC approved for the past 2 years?	Specific matter referred to the Certification Division.
Similar type with regards to AME licences?	CAA will look at each application on a case by case and assess the similarities and differences individually.
Auto Pilot modification approval on NTCA?	Specific matter referred to the Certification Division.
Credit of funds in the CAA account – NAC money seemed to be lost?	Matter referred to the CAA Finance Division.
When will the CAA decentralize and have representation at Lanseria Airport?	CAA currently in the process of undertaking ground work with regards to the costs and specifics of decentralising.
CAA does not respond to faxes, calls or letters. Why?	The CAA has appointed a new Customer Liaison manager who can be Contacted to attend to such queries. Her name is Mary Stephens and her contact email is stephensm@caa.co.za
What is the status of RSVM in Africa?	A presentation on the RSVM status was given by Mr. Msithini and the industry will be given further input as it becomes available.
Test flight results from the certification division are taking to long to be approved.	Matter referred to the Certification Division and the Senior Manager referred to the presentation he had made earlier on regarding the process of approving test flights.
How are the currency fees going to be implemented with regards to the recent CAA communication? Will aircraft be grounded for non-payment of currency fees.	No aircraft will be grounded as yet, but a different view will be taken once the Currency Database is up and running perfectly.
Why is Trevor Abrahams still shown on your letter heads?	A new letterhead is in process, meanwhile the old ones will still be used to save costs.
CAA seems not to be doing a lot of surveillance, Why?	At the moment there is a lack of manpower, but with the new appointees, the situation is getting better.
C of A inspections are being delayed for no reason.	On these specific occasions, the inspections were delayed due to the aircraft paperwork (logbooks, AD/SB statements, etc) were not finished.
Fees are high, why does the CAA not deliver high service standards?	It was pointed out that in fact, the average fees have decreased. For instance, AMO renewal fees have in some cases dropped from ±R20000 to R3500.
What is the CAA’s position on certifying suppliers of aircraft spares?	The Regulations require the end user (AMO installing spares) to ensure traceability and conformance.
CAA Finance Department not customer oriented and infact inefficient.	A meeting should be held between Industry Representatives (AMOSA) and the CAA Finance Department.
What is the difference between the Accountable Manager and the Compliance Officer in an AMO?	I quote Part 145: Personnel requirements 145.02.4   (1)  The applicant shall engage, employ or contract – (a) a senior person identified as the accountable manager and compliance officer of the organisation concerned, to whom contractual authority has been granted to ensure that all activities undertaken by the organisation are carried out in accordance with the applicable requirements prescribed in this subpart, The way I read it, it is one person, but it can be also be two persons, if the company requires so.
Is mandatory to have calibration dates attached on calibration tools?	Yes, in order that the calibration status can be readily ascertained.
Why does the process of amending or promulgating the regulations taking forever? Regulations specifically mentioned were Part 43, 24, 94 & 96, 21 & 145.	The reason is that all amendments must be submitted to the minister in English and Zulu. The first problem is to find a suitably qualified translator, and the second is when the document have been submitted to the minister, we have no control.

5. Report Back

6 The CAA made a commitment to respond to the outstanding questions that were not answered immediately within a time frame of 2 weeks.

6. Closure

6 The workshop closed with a summary report from Mr. Chakarisa who gave an overview of the entire deliberations.

6 Mr Thwala officially thanked all the sponsors and reiterated the CAA commitment to continuously improve its service delivery levels.