Flight Inspection

Flight Inspection encompasses those tests carried out in flight by well-trained Flight Inspectors in a specially equipped aircraft, to establish the validity of signals in space of navigational facilities and the proper installation of aerodrome visual navigation aids. In association with flight inspection, namely; pilots, aircraft and flight inspection technology, result in a highly sophisticated tool to perform the flight inspection function to ICAO standards and Recommended Practices.

The Flight Inspection Unit (FIU) is the holder of an Electronic Services Organizational (ESO) approval in terms of Part 171 of the South African Civil Aviation Regulations and is audited on an annual basis. The Flight Inspection Unit is also a member of the International Committee for Airspace Standards and Calibration (ICASC) which promotes continuity in the exchange of regulatory, technical, operational, and commercial information in flight inspection. ICASC is recognized by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

The FIU provide the following types of Flight Inspections services:

  • Site Evaluation
  • Commissioning
  • Routine
  • Special
  • After Accident
  • Surveillance

We Calibrate/Inspect the following facilities:

  • Instrument landing system (ILS CAT III)
  • VHF Omnidirectional Range (VOR)
  • Distance Measuring Equipment (DME)
  • Tactical Air Navigation (TACAN)
  • Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI)
  • Non-Directional Beacon (NDB) VHF Directional Finder (VDF)
  • RADAR SRE/SSR/ADSB (future function)
  • Airport Lighting Systems
  • Instrument Procedures of Radio Navigational Aids (Navaid) *
  • GNSS – RNAV/DME-DME/PBN*

* For Terrestrial Radio Navigational Aids/GNSS Instrument Procedures, the FIU does not validate any instrument procedures but instead performs a Flyability Check in accordance with ICAO DOC 8168 – PANS-OPS.

Operations and Experience

The FIU strategic management is based at the SACAA headquarters, Ikhaya Lokundinza 2 in Midrand. The FIU is administrated as an independent entity within the SACAA with numerous annual audits performed, which eliminates regulatory conflicts of interests.

  • The FIU employs some of the world’s most highly trained and experienced Flight Inspectors, with a combined field world-wide experience of more than seventy years.
  • Built over the years, the FIU has longstanding and excellent relationships with many clients.
  • Since its establishment in 1957, the FIU has performed as a continuous and committed Flight Inspection Unit.