Re: Citylink Plane Bursts Tyre, Skids Off Runway

PRESS RELEASE

Re: Citylink Plane Bursts Tyre, Skids Off Runway

Our attention has been drawn to the above mentioned Ghana News Agency (GNA) story on Sunday July 2, 2006 which was subsequently carried by a couple of media houses in Ghana and on Ghanaweb and we wish to react accordingly.

Firstly, CiTyLinK would like to apologise unreservedly to our clients and to all air travelers for the delay in our return flight to Kumasi on Saturday July 1, 2006. The inconvenience caused by the delay is deeply regretted and management wishes to assure our cherished clients that every precaution has been taken to pre-empt a re-occurrence.

However, we would like to use this opportunity to address certain inaccuracies contained in the GNA report.

On Saturday July 1, 2006 our scheduled flight to Kumasi was delayed for a number of hours due to a flat tire incident with our LET 410 aircraft. The front tire of the aircraft picked up a nail while taxing after landing. The captain responded by stopping the aircraft and then steered it away from the runway in order not to interfere with incoming traffic.

From the above, it is clear that the tire did not burst upon landing and neither did the plane skid off the runway.

Because this was not an accident, we filed an incident report and submitted same to the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).

We would like to state that had the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) taken the GNA story solely on its face value it would have grounded the plane, revoked the licenses of the flight crew and suspended our operations. However after subjecting the aircraft to its rigorous and thorough inspection regimen, the GCAA gave CiTyLinK the all-clear to commence operations immediately. As at 12.00 noon on Tuesday July 4, 2006, CiTyLinK had done two flights to Kumasi, one flight to Tamale and Tarkwa. Each flight has come to further support our position all along that a minor incident had been blown out of proportion.

CiTyLinK appreciates the role the media has played and continues to play in our democratic experiment but would like to appeal to them to contact us in the future to verify stories for themselves before they rush to broadcast or print as was in the case of the GNA Reporter.

We would like to assure our clients and air travelers that CiTyLinK would never sacrifice its commitment to safety and quality assurance on the altar of commercial expediency which is why we remain the airline of choice for several multi-national companies and foreign diplomatic missions based in Ghana.

We thank you for the opportunity.

Sincerely,

Paa Kwesi Plange
CTK CiTyLinK
Media and Marketing