Ghana Civil Aviation Authority
(GCAA) says plans are in top gear to undergo a technical review by
the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the
country's quest to regain its Category 1 certification. GCAA notes
that to demonstrate Ghana's commitment, a Ghanaian Delegation led
by the Hon. Minister for Transport, Alhaji Collins Dauda, visited
the Administrator of the U.S FAA, Mr. J. Randolph Babbitt, and his
team to discuss modalities for Ghana to regain the FAA Cat 1
status.
Ghana was awarded FAA Cat 1 status
in 1996 and lost it in 2004 due to GCAA's inability to ensure
adequate oversight responsibility of a Ghana registered aircraft,
Ghana Airways. Since then, the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority
(GCAA) has been taking all necessary steps to meet all
international safety and security requirements to enable it regain
the FAA Category 1 status.
Director-General of GCAA, Air Cdre
K-Mamphey, who was part of the delegation, states that an agreement
had been reached for a technical review on GCAA in December, 2011
and as such the Safety Regulation Department was working feverishly
to ensure readiness by the end of September, 2011. He adds that
following a successful Technical Review, GCAA will prepare for a
Safety Assessment Audit in the early part of 2012