Scottish budget carrier Flyglobespan is being taken to court by the UK Civil Aviation Authority over an alleged safety breach which occurred last year.
The CAA claims the airline operated a flight using an aircraft with unserviceable engine pressure gauges and then failed to report the incident. A CAA spokesman says Flyglobespan will appear before the City of Westminster magistrates’ court on criminal charges on 2 July.
“Three summonses have been issued against the UK airline Flyglobespan for alleged breaches of requirements laid down in the UK Air Navigation Order,” he says.
“The incidents involved an alleged flight operated with required engine pressure gauges unserviceable and an alleged failure to file a safety report to the CAA.”
Engine pressure gauges form part of the minimum equipment list and at least one must be serviceable for flight operations, says the spokesman.
A report in UK business daily The Times claims the incident involved a 12-year-old Boeing 757 which, on 28 June 2007, operated between Liverpool and New York, via Knock in the west of Ireland with both its engine pressure gauges inoperative.
It adds that the CAA was ultimately notified of the incident by US authorities four months later. The airline should have reported it within four days.
This is not the first time that Edinburgh-headquartered Flyglobespan has attracted attention from the UK safety regulator. Last year it briefly had its extended twin-engined operations (ETOPS) clearance suspended by the CAA for falling short of certification requirements.
A Flyglobespan spokesman says some of last summer’s issues remain unresolved, but he adds that these relate to technical matters and do not compromise passenger safety.
He says: “There are some outstanding matters from last year and we have been informed that the CAA will issue us with a court summons. This is not good news, but if the CAA had a real problem we would not be operating a full flying programme.”
Since last year, he adds, two senior managers have been replaced and improved reporting procedures have been introduced. But he says Flyglobespan is “in the dark” as it has not yet seen the CAA documents or received the summons, adding: “We will vigorously contest any allegations we deem to be unjustified.”
The CAA spokesman says this sort of action against a commercial operator is very rare. The last time similar action was taken against a UK operator involved BMI in 1996.
He adds that the CAA is continuing to oversee Flyglobespan’s operations with regular flight inspections, as is the case for any UK operator. He says: “If we had any immediate concerns, we would take immediate action.”
Flyglobespan says: “We fully accept that, having started the investigation process, the CAA is duty-bound to see it through to its conclusion. However, we would stress again that, since these events of almost a year ago, the company and the CAA have been working closely and have established a good, positive working relationship.
“Subsequently both parties are keen to put these matters to rest as quickly as possible and move forward.”
Although Flyglobespan’s ETOPS certification was suspended only briefly last year, the CAA says the airline voluntarily handed back its 138min Boeing 737-700 and -800 rating in January, and its 180min rating for Boeing 757s and 767s. It has since regained its 767 rating.
The CAA spokesman says: “We are working with the airline to have it in place as soon as possible, but quite often the work which has to take place is in the hands of the operator.”
Source: flightglobal.com's sister premium news site Air Transport Intelligence news
Source: Flight International
