Starbow airlines resumes operations

Starbow airlines has announced that it would resume normal operations on Tuesday, November 3, with afternoon flights to Kumasi.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the airline said: “The resumption of operations follows the successful completion of an extensive inspection on our fleet by the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).
“The inspection results provide us the assurance of the integrity of our equipment, operations and maintenance procedure.
“Starbow aircraft are regularly maintained and serviced in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations and as such duly endorsed and approved by the GCAA”.
It said the airline had given the GCAA inspectors all necessary support and co-operation, adding that the results of the inspection gave Starbow the confidence that its operating systems provided the required level of safety.
“We would like to reassure our customers and the…public that safety and security has been our main concern and we will not compromise on these values.
“We would also like to extend our profound gratitude to our cherished customers and dedicated trade partners for their patience and solidarity during this phase in our operations.
“Starbow once again, wishes to render its sincerest apology to all its customers, trade partners and the…public for the inconvenience caused as a result of the 28th October 2014 incident which led to the inspection,” the statement said.
Starbow Flight 124 was on its way to Takoradi when after takeoff, at 1600hrs, the captain detected a technical problem which was caused by a hydraulic system failure.
The captain, in accordance with standard procedures, decided to return to base. The aircraft landed smoothly and during the taxiing phase to the airport stand, the Ghana National Fire Service Personnel observed some smoke from the brakes which had heated as a result of the braking action and the high speed landing.
The crew responded by ensuring that the passengers were quickly evacuated. All passengers were evacuated safely in accordance with standard procedures. Starbow airlines say it was unfortunate that two passengers experienced some minor injuries during the evacuation process.
The GCAA subsequently grounded the airline’s only functional aircraft, which is the same type as Starbow’s three other aircrafts, (British Aerospace 146) in order to conduct safety checks to prevent a recurrence.
Credit: GNA