The two recent accidents involving aircraft belonging to one airline are a source of genuine concern in the aviation industry.
In the first case, a Silverstone Airline aeroplane crash-landed on take-off at Wilson Airport, Nairobi, and in the second, the wheel of another of the airliner’s aircraft came off during take-off at Eldoret International Airport.
Fortunately, there were no deaths but a few injuries, though that is no consolation.
It is the duty and obligation of airlines to ensure that their passengers and crew travel safely. It is also generally acknowledged that flying is one of the safest modes of transport.
But this cannot be said with certainty about the safety of African skies, where controls tend to be lax and regulations casually enforced. Reference to “flying coffins” in Africa aptly captures the sorry state of the aviation industry in most of the continent.
It is too early to judge Silverstone as the investigations are ongoing but accusations are already flying around. The airline has expressed its concern about the condition of some local airports.
The onus is on Kenya Airports Authority to ensure that all the facilities and equipment are in place to ease airlines’ operations. That is its job and not the airlines, who are its major customers.
Following the aircraft wheel incident, some Kenyans expressed their concern about air safety and accused the regulator of negligence.
But the director-general of the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, Gilbert Kibe, has given an assurance that the airline is being audited to check its compliance with safety regulations.
The agency has reiterated that safety and security are of paramount importance in its regulation of the aviation industry.
The regulator must enforce safety standards to make air travel not only efficient but also beneficial to Kenyans.
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