40 FlightCom Magazine
Words: rennie van Zyl
General Aviation:
QUO VADIS
“ONCE an airplane rolls off the assembly
line, current FAA certication rules have
made it really hard and expensive to install
new equipment that would enhance safety.
Hopefully, that’s all about to change,” said
George Perry, Senior Vice President of the
AOPA Air Safety Institute.
Installing non-certied equipment in
certied aircraft will bring a new lease
of life to a large segment of the general
aviation eet – aircraft which are perfectly
serviceable but constrained by regulation
to be expensively maintained to equipment
standards that are no longer practical.
South Africa has the largest number,
in Africa, of civil aircraft on its register,
estimated to be around 12,000, with
reference to past SACAA Annual Reports.
However, the register is not unique in terms
of aircraft types.
The majority of African states seem
to have between 6 and 50 aircraft on their
registers, and the experience that their
Civil Aviation Authorities (CAAs) have,
is largely related to certied aircraft used
by airlines. There are virtually no general
aviation activities.
In South Africa, the situation is very
different. It is estimated that of the 5,000
aircraft that have been issued with a South
African Certicate of Airworthiness
(CoA), only about 2,000 operate in the
scheduled and non-scheduled commercial
environment, in other words, carry
passengers for reward. The reduction of risk
to these passengers is essential.
That leaves about 3,000 certied
aircraft to be used for aerial work, training
and private, non-commercial, use.
The remaining 7,000 non-type certied
aircraft are mainly used for sport and
recreational purposes.
Commercial airliners go through
an extensive certification process
to remove as much risk as
possible to the passengers, as
passengers expect zero risk.
There are exciting developments in the United States to approve the
installation of non-certified equipment in certified general aviation aircraft in
the interest of safety. South Africa should follow suit and also consider some
changes to policy. Consultant to AOPA-SA, Rennie van Zyl, explores this.
Airbus
AOPA Update