Africa-Press – South-Africa. A charter aircraft from Angola is grounded at Cape Town International Airport for landing without a mandatory foreign operator permit (FOP), according to the transport department.
It said the TAAG Angolan Airlines aircraft landed on Friday with only the crew on board.
“The Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS) received a flight plan in line with its operating procedures and accepted the aircraft into South Africa’s airspace from Namibia direction,” the department’s statement read.
Spokesperson Lwazi Khoza said the airline operated scheduled flights between Luanda and Johannesburg. It has a Foreign Operator’s Permit (FOP), which lists all the aircraft it uses for scheduled flights.
However, it grounded some of its fleet due to maintenance and chartered the aircraft concerned, which is not listed under the FOP, for the collection of workers from oil company, Chevron.
Khoza said:
Khoza added, however, that the SA Civil Aviation Authority investigated the situation and found that the crew had passports and were suitably licensed and qualified.
It also found that the aircraft was in an airworthy state with all the relevant documentation, and no further contraventions were established after a security assessment and K9 search.
The aircraft was supposed to depart on Friday night.
“Correspondence was received from the Angolan embassy, apologising for the incident and requesting assistance and guidance on the way forward.”
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