Aviation safety inspectors inaugurate association
Aviation Safety Inspectors Association of Ghana (AVSIAG), an umbrella body of all safety inspectors in the aviation sector, has been inaugurated in Accra.
Mrs. Dzifa Aku Attivor, Minister of Transport, who inaugurated the Association at the weekend, called on its members to focus on attaining their stated goals and not act as a pressure to engage government and management.
She stated: “The Ministry of Transport and government would not countenance any activities that would derail achievements in the industry”.
The initiative brought together safety inspectors of all categories under one umbrella, including Airworthiness Inspectors, Flight Operations Inspectors, Security Inspectors, Personnel Licensing Inspectors, Aerodrome Standards Inspectors and Air Navigation Services Inspectors, as their roles in ensuring safety in the aviation industry could not be overemphasized.
“While acknowledging a promising future for civil aviation in Ghana, and the need for expansion in aviation infrastructure, it is important that our attention is drawn to the ever increasing challenge of sustaining or possibly achieving better safety record,” she noted.
She added that the Ministry of Transport recognized the need for greater collaboration among stakeholders on one hand and between stakeholders and Government on the other.
Mrs Attivor stated that aviation safety and security inspectors were core personnel charged with responsibilities in relation to safety regulation.
“The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has always maintained a firm stance on the need for well qualified, trained and motivated safety and security inspectors to discharge the above mentioned task.
“We are aware that in order to maintain high level professionalism, you are required to successfully complete standard training programmes offered only at ICAO approved institutions and by certified Instructors”.
Mrs Attivor also cautioned them to always remain wide awake to their responsibilities in order to ensure continuous air safety.
Air Commodore Kwame Mamphey (Rtd), Director General of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), commended the members of the Association for their hard work in establishing it and urged them to remain focused.
He said the GCAA would support AVSIAG in ensuring safety in Ghana’s aviation industry.
He stated that the surge in airlines operating to Accra did not happen by chance but by dint of hard work and dedication exhibited by the safety inspectors that had earned Ghana’s airspace the reputation of being safe.
He also expressed confidence in the fact that Ghana’s quest to regain the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) category one status, which would allow Ghanaian registered airlines to operate to the United States, would be achieved by the dedication of safety inspectors.
Mr. Nolasco Nyidu, Chairman of the Association, explained that AVSIAG had been born out of a strong passion for aviation safety and growth, hence its Motto – ‘Aviation Safety, our Passion’.
He said the Association represented the entire fraternity of aviation professionals: pilots, aircraft engineers, air traffic controllers, air traffic safety engineers, flight dispatchers, aircraft cabin crew, airport civil/electrical engineers, aviation security officers, aviation meteorologists, and aviation fire and rescue officers.
He noted that although indications suggested a promising outlook for the aviation industry with more flights operating on international and domestic routes, all the good things about civil aviation would elude Ghana if there was no effective regulation or strict safety oversight of the industry by the state as required by ICAO (international civil aviation organization).
“Without a good safety record or assurance of safety, air transportation cannot be attractive as the preferred means of travel. In this regard, the aviation safety inspectors are pleased to note that Ghana has put in place world-standard civil aviation legislative instruments to regulate all sectors of the country’s civil aviation system,” he stated.
Regulation, he said, brought to the fore the critical role or competency of aviation safety and security inspectors.
The inspectors’ tasks include ensuring that cockpit crew, flight attendants, dispatchers, aircraft maintenance engineers, air traffic controllers were appropriately trained at approved aviation training organizations.
Source: GNA