Starbow not banned — GCAA
Starbow, a domestic airline, has not been banned from operating in the country, the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has said.
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However, GCAA has asked Starbow to present seven documents on the aircraft that has been seized and parked, adding that “once they submit the documents we will begin with our checks”.
“As it is now we cannot tell when the aircraft would be released for operations,” the acting Deputy Director-General (Technical) at GCAA, Mr Martey Boye Atoklo, said at a press briefing yesterday in Accra.
According to him, Starbow Airlines “has air operator’s certificate that is valid till August 8, 2015; therefore, the airline could not be banned”.
Background
A Starbow aircraft that was destined for Takoradi on October 28 made a quick emergency return from its journey to Takoradi after it experienced hydraulic warning signals 6000 feet in the sky.
Two passengers aboard the aircraft were injured when the plane force-landed 20 minutes into the journey.
This is the second of such an incident involving a flight of the airliner.
Starbow grounded
Mr Atoklo said due to the incident, the GCAA had grounded the remaining aircraft for further safety checks.
“Starbow started with four aircraft; one has been scrapped, the second one had engine problems and is on the ground, the third one is what had the hydraulic problems last Tuesday.
“What we have done is that, as a precautionary measure, we have grounded the remaining serviceable aircraft out of the four. We think that we should take a closer look at the remaining aircraft. Until we are satisfied with our inspections it will not be released to Starbow,” he said.
He said the fact that Starbow aircraft had been grounded did not mean it could not operate, explaining that the company could hire other aircraft to serve its customers.