Starbow accident: GCAA to be dragged to ICAO ‘for not heeding good advice’

The Bureau of Public Safety (BPS) has expressed disgust at Saturday’s incident at the Kotoka International Airport, blaming it on the Ministry of Transport and the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).

A Starbow flight skidded off the runway, leaving one person hospitalized.

According to BPS, the incident only draws Ghana closer to “witnessing a national disaster”.

It says safety reports of the International Civil Aviation Organisation for 2015 and 2016 points in that direction.

But the Ministry of Transport and GCAA have not heeded to the content of the reports, especially in having an independent accident investigation body set up.

“Allowing the GCAA to lead and continually investigate such incidents can only save jobs at the authority not lives of passengers,” the Bureau stated on Saturday.

“Perhaps it’s time for the BPS to explore what roles the International Civil Aviation Organization ( ICAO ) and the Federal Aviation Administration ((FAA) can play in getting the State of Ghana to establish such a body as opposed to ad-hoc investigation committees whose findings and recommendations cannot be assured.”

It expressed worry that its call after 10 persons were killed in 2012, following an Allied Air cargo plane overshooting the runway, have seemingly been snubbed.