Some forty aircraft face grounding at Swakopmund airfield

Floris Steenkamp

AIRCRAFT owners who are on the books of Namibia Base Aviation, the aircraft maintenance organization that was closed by the Namibia Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) just days after the July 17th Robinson-44 helicopter crash at Swakopmund, which claimed the lives of two people, could soon see their planes grounded for flights.

Days after the crash that claimed the lives of test pilot Jacques Jacobs (54) and soon-to-qualified aircraft maintenance technician Dirk von Weidts (29), the Namibian Police arrested an employee of Namibian Base Aviation for alleged fraud relating to the airworthiness documentation of the ill-fated helicopter, which flew under the call-sign V5-HGG.

The discovery of the alleged fraudulent activities within Namibia Base Aviation resulted in the NCAA taking over the crash investigation from the Ministry of Works and Transport’s Air Accidents and Incidents Investigations Unit and placing it in the hands of the Namibian Police.

That led to the arrest of employee Gisa Nauhaus (34), who appeared in court in the meantime on charges of fraud and two counts of culpable homicide relating to the deaths of Jacobs and von Weidts. She remains in custody as the investigation takes shape.

As if the aircraft crash and the closure of Namibia Base Aviation have not sent enough shockwaves through the coast’s aviation fraternity, some forty aircraft owners in the meantime had to discover there is more drama to come.

With the closure of Namibia Base Aviation, the Namibian Police confiscated various categories of evidence from this maintenance business. That included all logbooks of all aircraft that were on the books of Namibia Base Aviation.

The dilemma is multi-fold. Firstly, aircraft owners will have to approach the police’s investigators to get their aircraft logbooks back. At the same time, they have to apply for permission at the NCAA and get approval to change from aircraft service and maintenance service providers. If they fail to do so, their aircraft cannot be repaired or undergo any maintenance work as it is only Namibia Base Aviation authorized to carry out the work. Should any repair or maintenance issue come up, they have to apply and get approval from the NCAA to contract a new service provider in the place of Namibia Base Aviation.

“We are sitting with an administrative time bomb, and that could affect as many as forty airplanes currently stationed at Swakopmund and whose owners contracted Namibia Base Aviation,” explained an aircraft owner to Informanté.

Meanwhile, the NCAA, in a statement, laid to rest fears by some aircraft owners that an audit of all the log books confiscated by the Namibian Police at Namibia Base Aviation has to take place before it is released. In the statement, the NCAA said that although air safety comes first, such a move would not be practical. It is now up to aircraft owners to get their log books from the Police and manage the situation with regard to their options to either wait and see if Namibia Base Aviation would be allowed to operate again and whether it faces closure, which would force all owners to apply at the NCAA to change to a new aviation maintenance and repair organization.