The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has held a stakeholders’ meeting with domestic airline operators over a proposal to change its procedures to ensure that two crew members are present in aircraft cockpits at all times.
The proposal adds to a series of others outlined by the GCAA to ensure a safer domestic air transport sector.
A brainwave test report would now be a mandatory requirement from all prospective pilots applying for an initial licence from the GCAA, which, once granted, would be renewable annually.
At the meeting, the acting Director General of GCAA, Mr. Abdulai Alhassan, said the tightening of cockpit-staffing rules became necessary due to recent high-profile tragedies in the global aviation industry.
Ghanaian registered carriers would also be required to conduct periodic background security checks on all employed pilots and submit reports to GCAA inspectors at all times.
The GCAA also indicated that local airline operators would be expected to ensure that flight crew undergo Human Factors (HM) training, including the already established Crew Resource Management (CRM) As part of the proposals, which are to take effect soon, the GCAA will impose a responsibility on cargo operators, which do not carry cabin crew, to consider a ground engineer or a loadmaster as the third crew on flight decks at all times.
It would be recalled that in March, Andreaz Lubitz, 27 and co-pilot of a Germanwings Flight 9525 aircraft, apparently crashed the airliner into the French Alps, killing all 150 passengers on board.
Lubitz was believed to have intentionally locked the captain out of the flight deck before setting the aircraft on its lethal descent.