For the aviation fans

[Bollies]

The ILS at FAOR is unfortunately a big problem. It is already past its calibration date by 180 days. So an extension was already granted which expired on Sunday. With FAOR having a CAT 3 ILS when it is not accurate it can become quite a dangerous situation

[RoddieJ]

The ILS at FAOR is unfortunately a big problem. It is already past its calibration date by 180 days. So an extension was already granted which expired on Sunday. With FAOR having a CAT 3 ILS when it is not accurate it can become quite a dangerous situation

I’m not in the mood... You win!

[Spokey]

The ILS at FAOR is unfortunately a big problem. It is already past its calibration date by 180 days. So an extension was already granted which expired on Sunday. With FAOR having a CAT 3 ILS when it is not accurate it can become quite a dangerous situation

Or down grade to Cat II or even Cat I until able to safely do Cat III again.

[Bateleur1]

Or down grade to Cat II or even Cat I until able to safely do Cat III again.

 

And surely aircraft would still be able to land visually without ILS as well? It would just be a problem in bad weather to land without an ILS from my understanding.

 

It has happened before that the ILS at Jburg was not functioning and if there was fog, aircraft had to divert to other airports.  There was a joke many years ago that Lufthansa was diverted to Mafikeng.  Due to the German pilots not understanding the ground control at Mafikeng, the 747 parked at a wrong spot and was too close to a lamp pole.  People could not get off the plane cause the only staircase on the airport was malfunctioning.  Couple of hours later the fog cleared at Joburg and the Lufthansa could hop back to Joburg.  Only problem is the 747 was still parked too close to the pesky pole and the only tractor to push back the aircraft was ... guess what ... kaput.  So they had to reverse thrust out of there.  Some seriously ticked of pilots that took off there.

[Bateleur1]

OR Tambo is not the only airport ...

 

https://www.facebook.com/Eon.de.Vos.CRM/posts/3321325217926524

[MrJacques]

https://mybroadband.co.za/news/technology/363488-planes-at-or-tambo-forced-to-perform-landings-without-essential-guidance-system.html

[MrJacques]

https://gizmodo.com/boeing-747s-still-use-floppy-disks-to-get-critical-soft-1844683811

[Spokey]

And surely aircraft would still be able to land visually without ILS as well? It would just be a problem in bad weather to land without an ILS from my understanding.

 

It has happened before that the ILS at Jburg was not functioning and if there was fog, aircraft had to divert to other airports.  There was a joke many years ago that Lufthansa was diverted to Mafikeng.  Due to the German pilots not understanding the ground control at Mafikeng, the 747 parked at a wrong spot and was too close to a lamp pole.  People could not get off the plane cause the only staircase on the airport was malfunctioning.  Couple of hours later the fog cleared at Joburg and the Lufthansa could hop back to Joburg.  Only problem is the 747 was still parked too close to the pesky pole and the only tractor to push back the aircraft was ... guess what ... kaput.  So they had to reverse thrust out of there.  Some seriously ticked of pilots that took off there.

Fly RNAV approaches......will only affect Cat II or III ops. Not that busy at the moment, surely not that many aircraft will be affected in the short to med term.

[Alouette3]

Exactly what they did in George after the accident, all approaches went RNAV. ILS is not the only approach available, just the most accurate, as it provides Azimuth position and a Glideslope. Most will have a  secondary plate available based on VOR which is only Azimuth.

 

The VOR on Robben island has been u/s for possibly over a year now.

[Spokey]

Exactly what they did in George after the accident, all approaches went RNAV. ILS is not the only approach available, just the most accurate, as it provides Azimuth position and a Glideslope. Most will have a  secondary plate available based on VOR which is only Azimuth.

 

The VOR on Robben island has been u/s for possibly over a year now.

Perhaps time to up our game here and develop LPV approaches that can also have the equivalent of Cat 1 ILS mimima with no ground based aids.

Granted not the same as ILS Cat II or III but better than Visuals or NPA’s

But then, it would work for me as we are not approved for Cat II let alone III.

 

I see the RNAV approaches at Josie are just GNSS with LNAV...........basically around 500 feet higher minima than a Cat II ILS..........seriously an issue in crap weather.

[Alouette3]

Either way, with or without alternatives the whole situation is not acceptable and just another victim of politics and flipping government tenders. Hopefully that plane gets here sooner rather then later.

 

The scary thing is for instance, the go around procedure for the ILS at Cape Town requires the VOR at Robben Island RIV as well as CTV, nothing is NOTAM'ed about a revised procedure with RIV being u/s and the other day CTV was also down! Just use the same plate dated 2007. Spoke to our ATC friends and they don't even have an updated procedure, but would give one on request if pilots asked on the radio.

[Alouette3]

And here the CAA are asking me for the permits for the flights I did during lockdown when I sent in my logbook copies for a license renewal!

[Bateleur1]

Surely CAA should charter an aircraft and crew to do the ILS calibration in the mean time.  It could take ages before a new aircraft is bought.

[Alouette3]

There is no other aircraft in SA with the correct calibration equipment. An aircraft  has been arranged apparently and is on its way from Europe this month, but had some delays due to snags and then the crew needing to isolate for 2 weeks on arrival. 

[Long Wheel Base]

There is no other aircraft in SA with the correct calibration equipment. An aircraft  has been arranged apparently and is on its way from Europe this month, but had some delays due to snags and then the crew needing to isolate for 2 weeks on arrival. 

A few years ago(time flies but it was probably like 3 or 4) there was a plain white A319/320 that was here for a few weeks and it did hundreds(maybe not hundreds but a lot) of circuits. Not sure if it went to other airports but it apparently was doing calibration of some sort for/with the SACAA.

[SwissVan]

I just read that the ILS (Instrument Landing System) at ORT is off due to the calibration having expired.

 

CAA haven't replaced the calibration aircraft that crashed a couple of months ago.

 

Could be a disaster waiting to happen.

 

I think the SACAA have expired during CV19

My AME license renewal application went in mid June, license subsequently expired on 27 July and they only acknowledged receipt on 12 August

 

Luckily i don't need a valid license