News24.com | Passengers cancel British Airways flights after technical difficulties

A British Airways aircraft had trouble with its landing gear on Saturday


A British Airways aircraft had trouble with its landing gear on Saturday



Comair has to deal with the repercussions of an incident with a British Airways plane on Saturday, less than a week after taking back to the air following the chaos around the withdrawal of its operation certification.

On Saturday, one of its flights from Gqeberha, struggled to land at Cape Town International Airport, following an issue with its landing gear. The plane finally landed but the incident resulted in a 15 minute delay.

“Unfortunately the incident did have a knock on effect resulting in the cancellation of some other services. Customers were accommodated on other flights,” said BA spokesperson Stephen Forbes on Sunday.

Following Saturday’s incident, the EFF called for the SA Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) to permanently ground all “Comair aligned aviation companies” saying the posed a threat to the safety of passengers and the country.

However, Forbes said the SACAA has not made any safety and securing findings regarding Comair’s flight operations or maintenance.

“Comair has an enviable 76-year track record. It operates some of the most modern aircraft in South African skies, applies global best practice to ensure operational safety and crew training is world-class,” said Forbes. 

The SACAA did not respond to Fin24’s request for comment.

It’s not the first time BA had trouble with the particular aircraft, with another flight from East London to Johannesburg, having to make an emergency landing last month.

The aircraft’s issue last month, also related to its landing gear, which failed to retract at the time.

The carrier is operated by Comair, which also owns and operates kulula.com. Comair had only just returned to the air last week, after the SA Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) withdrew its Air Operators Certificate, after a series of safety issues at both BA and kulula.com.

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