| The death of five people in an aircraft crash in | | | | earlier ban on 62 other African airlines because of |
| northern Angola has refocused attention on Africa's | | | | poor safety. |
| poor aviation safety record. VOA's Delia Robertson | | | | Africa has the worst flight safety record in the world. It |
| reports from our southern Africa bureau in | | | | is a statistic that led directly to the African Union this |
| Johannesburg. | | | | week establishing the Africa Civil Aviation Authority |
| Rescuers have retrieved the flight data recorder from | | | | (AFRO-CAA). |
| the Angolan Airlines 737 carrying 79 passengers that | | | | In opening the new organization's headquarters in |
| crashed on landing at M'banza Congo about 300 | | | | Windhoek Thursday, Namibian Prime Minister Nahas |
| kilometers north of the capital Luanda Thursday. | | | | Angula noted the statistics were troubling African |
| Reports say the flight recorder, which will be central to | | | | leaders and said that African's should not wait for |
| the official investigation into the accident, has been sent | | | | countries beyond the continent to compel adherence |
| to Luanda. | | | | to safety standards. |
| Reports say the aircraft struck a small house next to | | | | The AFRO-CAA will establish and police standards for |
| the runway as it was coming in for a landing, and the | | | | registration of airlines and aircraft maintenance. It will do |
| aircraft's landing gear then appeared to give way on | | | | the same for pilot training, examination and licensing. |
| touch down. The craft broke in two with the fuselage | | | | In time it is hoped the organization will set up technical |
| and front section ending up fifty meter apart from | | | | and flight training facilities. At present Libya, Cameroon, |
| each other. | | | | Nigeria and South Africa represent each of their |
| The M'banza Congo airport has no air traffic control | | | | regions at AFRO-CAA. It will be their task to |
| tower. | | | | coordinate the work of the authority with other |
| The crash occurred within hours of the European | | | | countries in their regions. They were chosen because |
| Union announcing it had blacklisted Angolan Airlines | | | | they account for 80 percent of the air traffic on the |
| because of safety issues and banned the airline from | | | | continent. The new agency is modeled on the Aviation |
| flying to European countries. The decision follows an | | | | Safety Agency of the European Union. |