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I flew into FACt yesterday evening at 19h05. Our flight was placed in the hold for 10 minutes, then we waited about five minutes on the taxiway waiting for a parking spot to open up. Then we waited a few more minutes waiting for the stairs to arrive.
Got inside the Arrivals Terminal and absolute chaos! No one knowing which conveyor belt was delivering luggage from which fight. I understand that flights are still being delayed this morning. |
Stay POSITIVE folks!
Carefull not to get the whole place blacklisted because of flaws in management and awarding of BEE contracts. Anyone for cognac or a cigar in Houghton as we are given an explanation by a top avaition official currently on a "self impossed" sabbatical. (Hopefully he will retire from his sabbatical more rested and a new-found "greed" for changing aviation in SA more positively.) A loss of lives will really keep those sensitive travellers, well worldwide away!:sad: Jetblast causes flaking.....apply anti-dandruff perhaps? |
Who heads up ACSA?.........eish I rest my case!!!!
Mr Goldfish Jack, unfortunately like everything else in this sacred land of ours its all going down the proverbial toilet. Look at the rest of the continent mate and we'll get an idea of how our airports are going to be neglected in the near future. I hope I'm wrong but methinks not. ILS's ummm they can't even spell the word. As long as the coffers are being nicely lined they're not going to give a damn about it. It makes our blood boil but this is it. Unfortunately it's our butts on the line everytime we fly in and out of these places and maybe all of us should take a stand and do something about it - something has to be done before it's too late. But then again apathy rules!!!:yuk: Anyway hope the mess in FACT is somehow sorted out and we can continue to safely navigate in and out of there. Keep up the good work Mr Jack........:ok: |
Strange, strange world we live in, Mr Jack...:E
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And what about compensation? I had a client that was flying out of JNB but was rebooked because he couldn't make the connection from down here...... BA washed their hands, come back tomorrow and we'll try again - but you gotta pay your own way. No hotel, no help nothing.
Gotta love the third world.:mad: |
As ex ATC FACT, now drifter of the world, I remember an incident in 1993 when 01/19 fell apart during a Black South Easter with serious rain and wind. Work had been done on the Rwy centre line lights and the contractors had stuffed it and huge pieces of tar were lifting about 100m from the 34 intersection. Rwy was closed from, if memory serves, about 1600 on the Sunday till early the next morning and needless to say, as it was the good od DCA then, all manner of excuses/blaming done similar to what I read now and the airlines and paying public were left carrying the can. Sooooooo glad to see all has changed - not!
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:O Won't help to say "I told you so"...but it surpises me that the runway has lasted this long. Also been on the runway a lot of times in the past..pre 2000, and been working in the TWR many a time when "holes" suddenly appreared somewhere along the runway. There was lost of recommendation way back in the 90's of a 2nd runway. Shot down every time as the "time" was not yet right by DCA and later ACSA???
Maybe ACSA will wake up now!!:eek: A second runway is long.long time overdue..not only for the purpose of traffic, but a) the existing runway need lost of repars and b) the unexpected blockage such as the one which just occured, causes millions R's loss to the carriers and the flying public. A few years ago Cape Town already passed the traffic count being handled by JNB in 1992. JNB then already had a 2nd runway. ACSA makes million R's. To blame the poor Malaysia or the Russians??? ACSA must be blamed!! The runway is certified to handle these "heavy's". If not, there is a serious problem for ACSA. Like to hear what the "H" type rated pilots have to say!!:ok: |
Agree Capt Cu, the facts are this: after the MAS 744 took off the next schedule to depart a few minutes later called the tower to say that it looked like "black plastic" lying on the runway. Tower put a light aircraft and a formation of two (maybe three) Hunters into holding patterns whilst an inspection was made.
The "black plastic" could not have been missed by all the aircraft that took off before MAS, so it is most probable that the MAS 744 either exposed previous damage or opened a runway fault line. In any event accountability rests squarly with the management of the runway - ACSA. |
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is to investigate the problem that caused the main runway at Cape Town International Airport to be closed for over five hours on Sunday. "This falls within the ambit of things we normally inspect," CAA spokesperson Phindiwe Gwebu said on Monday. The authority - tasked with promoting, regulating and enforcing civil aviation safety and security - was awaiting a report from the Airports Company South Africa (Acsa), she said. Acsa spokesperson Deidre Hendricks said a "pavement surface defect" led to the runway being closed shortly after damage was spotted by an aircraft crew while taking off on Sunday morning. "It was reported between 11.20am and 11.30am. By 11.35am, the runway had been closed because we were not prepared to take any safety risks." She declined on Monday to say which airline had reported the problem, saying only it "did not cause an immediate threat to the aircraft upon its take-off". Photographs of the affected runway in Cape Town newspapers on Monday morning showed an area of about 30 square metres undergoing repair by airport workers. The runway was re-opened at 5pm on Sunday. Hendricks said lifting and crumbling of the asphalt on the runway was caused by stress and environmental factors, including high temperatures. Civil aviation regulations in South Africa require runway inspections to be carried out "at reasonable intervals". Hendricks said the runway at Cape Town International Airport was inspected six times a day. "This inspection is done by various departments operating in Acsa, to ensure the credibility of the checks," she said. - Sapa |
Passengers, airlines
Gatvol at huge chaos Johannesburg - The Civil Aviation Authority wants to know why, in spite of six daily inspections, damage to a main runway at Cape Town International Airport was not noticed in good time to prevent the weekend's massive air chaos. Whatever the cause is of the "hole" in a Cape Town main runway, it will do little to appease the thousands of "tired, hungry and gatvol" passengers waiting at airports across South Africa since Sunday afternoon for flights to or from Cape Town. The airlines, too, are baying for blood as they struggle to eliminate their huge backlogs of passengers. It was revealed on Monday that scheduled maintenance was done on the runway as recently as Saturday night, and again early on Monday morning, hours after the runway was reopened to air traffic. Experts said that the "hole" in the runway surface could have led to an aviation disaster and massive loss of life if a fully loaded 747 passenger jet had landed on it. While airlines struggled to clear the backlogs after thousands of passengers countrywide were stranded because of airport problems, fingers were increasingly being pointed at the Airports Company of SA (Acsa) and the quality of maintenance in Cape Town. Malaysian Airlines also reacted angrily to rumours that its 747-400 caused a 5mx6m piece of asphalt to "lift up" on the runway. The airline's district manager in Cape Town, Chan Cheong Eu, said that when Air Malaysia's flight landed at Buenos Aires, Argentina, after its flight from Cape Town there was "no damage to the plane". He said if it were true that the tail of their jet caused the hole in the ground, "today's news would not have been so simple". "In serious cases (where the tail hits the ground when taking off), the aircraft can break in two and cause total disaster," said Chan. Asphalt that lifts up, as apparently happened on Sunday, is "dangerous". An informed aviation source, specialising in cargo aircraft, commented: "The logical deduction is that the incident happened because of a lack of proper, sustained maintenance. "If the runway failed when a heavy (Boeing) 747 full of passengers landed on it, the consequences could have been fatal. "It probably would have yanked off the plane's undercarriage, making it impossible to steer," he said. Rodney James, marketing manager of budget airline 1time, said on Monday that such a hole "does not suddenly appear" and should have been "spotted during routine maintenance". Comair's Gidon Novick said it was astonishing that Acsa's managing director Monhla Hlahla had made no comment about Sunday's events. "We demand a clear explanation. At present, there are only vague stories. We want to know what happened." CAA incident inspector Gilbert Thwala said the CAA wanted to determine why the asphalt lifted. 'Not due to a lack of maintenance' "The fact that it was not spotted earlier raises questions about maintenance at the airport," he said. Acsa spokesperson Deidre Hendricks confirmed, meanwhile, that work was "recently" been done on the runway, but that it was "routine maintenance". Hendricks said the runway was checked six times a day and the "defect was definitely not due to a lack of maintenance". Acsa apparently are investigating the possibility that, besides environmental factors, the damage might have been the result of a "take-off, landing or jet-engine ignition" and the "stress this caused on the surface". Passenger Jac Jacobs said his group had to sleep at Johannesburg International on Sunday night. "We have been stuck here since Sunday afternoon. Our flight was delayed several times without any reason or apology being offered," he said. "We were promised time and again that we would take off soon, simply to be informed a little later that it was still not possible." Jacobs, who was waiting for a Nationwide flight to Cape Town along with 82 other people, said no one from Acsa, which runs South Africa's airports, or Nationwide tried to help the stranded passengers. Nationwide was one of the airlines affected by the delays. Jacobs said: "They just told us that we were unable to fly and that we should go home. "That despite there being three small babies in the group. What alternatives were there at that time of the morning?" Nationwide spokesperson Rodger Whittle said his airline couldn't be held responsible for the delayed flights. "The situation was out of our control and that is why we didn't organise accommodation or food. "We can't afford to compensate people for something that we didn't cause. "Some of our staff worked non-stop for more than 24 hours to keep passengers informed. Often the passengers' expectations are unrealistic." |
I just wish ACSA would stop blaming everyone else. They were working at the intersection on the runways on Sat night, as per NOTAM whatevernumber, and the area where the hole was was exactly where they worked.
You do not have to be a rocket scientist to work it out, that when you get an el cheapo company to do the work, with no previous experience on repairing runways, that you are going to have problems. Either they did not pre-mix, or they used the incorrect tar mixture. Come on ACSA own and tell everyone the real reason. When you you to deal with them on a daily basis like we do, you soon realise that their senior management at FACT have NO IDEA what they are doing...............see my other posting about the airfield being black listed. IFALPA if you are worth what you say you are, get working... |
Stay positive - we do try but when you work with ACSA it is quite an exerience.
THey still have not sorted out their ILSs despite saying they would. Will it take an accident to get it sorted out.......... Yep FACT is really in the third world. I think my colleagues deserve a mention for handling and sorting the mess out - ACSA did not know what to do - without them the airport would still be in a chaotic situation. Wonder if those idiots at ACSA will say anything........ Must say well done to the SAA crew that landed yesterday morning (mon) on 01 with a A340-600 with a 10knot tailwind to avoid having to land in the freshly re-tarred area. Looked quite impressive. |
And what about compensation? I had a client that was flying out of JNB but was rebooked because he couldn't make the connection from down here...... BA washed their hands, come back tomorrow and we'll try again - but you gotta pay your own way. No hotel, no help nothing. Farmpilot, the airlines are clients of ACSA , so they also have to go through the whole claim process for compensation etc. which as you know takes forever and a day, so for the airline to just hand out hotel and food vouchers, free tickets or whatever will have most of them in all sorts of trouble in no time.That is why they have all the guidlines and policies regarding these types of things, you may get a coffee voucher for a weather delay but no hotel or free ticket cause it is not the airlines fault that the weather is crappy and so on, so as much as the staff would like to help out all the pax for ALL the delays they cannot....:ok: |
Yogi
I agree that airlines should not be held responsible for EVERYTHING but I bet if an airline spanked a new jet way ACSA would be all over them like a rash - and rightly so (as long as it wasn't a ACSA marshal that caused it:}) I'm sure the airlines will be after compensation and so why not look after their pax but putting them up, giving them food and then claim it back from ACSA. The pax stay happy and fly again with the airline, ACSA get egg all over their face and Cape Town gets a new runway - job done:ok: Or have I been in the sun too long...... |
"One has to look at the state of the ILSs. They are down so many times one has given up on counting them – they are extremely unreliable and no-one can say when they are going to be repaired. How long does the present unsafe situation have to go on for, before they are fixed – do we need an accident before something gets done?? "
GFJ Please correct me if I'm wrong. ACSA bought all the ILSs installed at the ACSA airports and ATNS is maintaining them. ACSA has bought 3 different models of ILSs (ASII, Thales and Normarc) for their airports. Sometimes 2 different models on one airport. I can assure you that the ones in question are not the worst system on the market. As a matter of fact they are one of the best. ATNS has a maintenance contract with a BEE company for the support of their navaids, not even capable of looking after the ILSs (as they are not trained on the systems) and with no contact with the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) in order to get spares from the OEM. Is it really fair to blame ACSA for that? ATNS has awarded their new project Terns (40 navaid sites) to another company representing the OEM in question. Are those who work on them and looking after the logistics really up to scratch for the job? Or is a matter of blaming the tools if you can't use them properly? Saw the same sort of problems in countries like Swaziland, Zim, Malawi where the guys are not trained as a result of high personnel turnover and then they are blaming the equipment. |
I had a chat with one of the guys from the contract company.
Firstly, its not a el cheapo company. they are one of the biggest civil contractors in SA. Secondly, they have repeatedly, at each runway inspection, stressed the fact to ACSA that the intersection needs to be repaired immediately. ACSA's only response was that they are not willing to close down the airport at night to do the work, So eventually, after 4 months, they did get the go-ahead to do it -but for one night only and its suppose to take 3 nights!!!!! So, whose to blame? A-C-S-A. When will they realise that when you run an international airport, it needs to be maintained that way, even if it means closing down at night. Dont you agree:confused: |
How much longer do ACSA need??How long has the main runway been shut at night??? And Ils 01??????????
Hello ACSA, wake up and make Cape Town International Airport, a proper International Airport!!!!!! The Atc's,airlines, pilots and passengers can only do so much. |
newspaper reported again today
Said something like: "First we thought it was a Malaysian 747 then a Russian freighter, but now we think at was weather and water " :rolleyes: |
See the Campfire on the issue of smoke in Richards Bay, we can treat the symptoms, but the cause...remains dangerous.
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The Airports Company of South Africa (Acsa) still does not know what caused the hole in the main runway of the Cape Town International Airport. Acsa spokesperson Deirdré Hendricks told journalists on Tuesday that the matter was still being investigated. But Acsa would spend about R36m in the new financial year on maintenance for the main runway of 3.2km. She said there had been widespread speculation in the past few days about the causes of the hole on runway 19. She said the speculations that moles might have damaged the runway were definitely not true. Acsa still believed that environmental and stress factors were the logical answer. A Capetonian pest controller and expert who does not want to be named for professional reasons, said moles might have caused the damage. "Moles often make burrows under constructions such as roads and runways. This area is hot and dry, and is an ideal home for these animals. "The burrows might have made the reinforced concrete surface subside slightly and then the asphalt could easily have been ripped off," he said. Hendricks said Acsa wanted to emphasise that the main and secondary runways were closed from 11:35 to 17:00 on Sunday so that an airport team could repair the hole. A piece of asphalt had been ripped off the main runway. "The pilot of a plane that took off at 11:20 reported the damage on runway 19. Engineers discovered a hole of 6m by 3m. Asphalt 3cm thick was ripped off the runway," Hendricks said. Airport manager George Uriesi said Acsa apologised for any inconvenience. "But the safety of airport users is very important. Acsa cannot take chances with people's lives," he said. He added that the runways at Cape Town International Airport complied with international safety standards and boasted some of the safest runways in Africa. "Incidents like this are not unique. International airports everywhere in the world also regularly interrupt their normal activities to solve problems," Uriesi said. He said the airport here complied with all the requirements that the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) expected of an airport. |
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