SACAA Annual Report 2022_23

PART B I Performance Information

d) Accidents Per Aircraft Category and Operation Type

AIID is planning to make a safety recommendation, based on the causal factor analysis, to reduce the number of accidents. This initiative is planned to be undertaken and completed in the second quarter of the 2023/24 FY and to be implemented in the third and fourth quarters to assess its effectiveness. This sector is likely to experience a decrease in accidents over the next financial year. Overall, per operational sectors, it is forecast that fewer accidents will be recorded, apart from remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) operations. In the last three financial years, the number of accidents involving remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) has increased as a result of the increased number of RPA operations and their inherent technical reliability challenges. There has been a 59% increase in the number of accidents involving RPA compared to the 2021/22 financial year. The AIID will collaborate closely with the SACAA and the RPAS industry to identify the cause of accidents and to propose safety advocacy programmes to reduce the number of accidents. e) Fatal Accidents Per Operational Category Between 2020/21 and 2022/23 Financial Years In order to understand the impact of fatal accidents and the deaths that result from them, it is vital that the SACAA’s mandate to ensure the safety of scheduled and commercial air transport is fulfilled. In spite of all the progress made regarding aviation safety in South Africa, which has resulted in zero (0) fatal accidents occurring in scheduled and commercial operations for over three decades, there are still considerable concerns regarding fatal accidents occurring within the general aviation and recreational sector. To achieve SACAA’s goal of reducing fatal accidents in general aviation operations by 50% by the end of the 2024/25 financial year, more work needs to be done.

The majority of accidents recorded in the 2022/23 financial year were in the operations of Aviation Training Organisations (ATO), Non-Type Certificated Aircraft (NTCA) and General Aviation and Operating Flight Rules, which collectively accounted for 73% of all accidents recorded. An analysis of the 2022/23 financial year revealed the following results in terms of accidents in the operational categories, compared to the 2021/22 period: • Agricultural Operations decreased by 27%, • Aviation Training Organisations (ATOs) remained constant at 38 accidents, • General Aviation and Operating Flight Rules decreased by 28%, • Operation of Non-Type-Certificated Aircraft decreased by 29%, • Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems increased by 59%. There has been a significant decrease in the accidents of Non-Type-Certificated Aircraft, as well as the General Aviation and Operating Flight Rules sectors, which can be attributed to the implementation of the General Aviation Safety Strategy (GASS) that is positively affecting these sectors because of its wide reach. To support these strategies in accident reduction, the AIID will continue to monitor these sectors of operation and issue safety recommendations in accident reports. It is anticipated that the General Aviation and the NTCA accidents will continue to decline in the next financial year. There is still a concern regarding the number of accidents involving ATOs, which initially increased by 65% higher from 2019/20 to the 2020/21 FY, with the number remaining fixed in the 2022/23 FY. The

74 I Annual Report 2022/23 I Performance Information