Airport search, rescue operation efforts must be collaborative – GCAA

Air Commodore Kwame Mamphey (Rtd), Director-General of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), has stressed the need for other institutions to collaborate with the GCAA towards search and rescue operations in the event of emergencies.

He said there was the need for other aviation stakeholder institutions to join the GCAA in such collaborative efforts in order for Ghana to meet the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) requirements under Article 25, which stipulates that each contracting state must provide measures of assistance to aircraft in distress in its territory as it may find practicable.

Air Cmdr. Mamphey said this at the opening of a two-day Aviation Search and Rescue Seminar in Accra.

In a statement issued to the GNA, he said there was also the need to strengthen relationship with each collaborating institution and to develop the human capacity to make certain that personnel were ready and prepared to work in the event of any emergency.

The importance of collaborative efforts, he noted, had been brought to the fore by the Allied Air accident on June 12 and thus highlighted the need for increased training for the personnel.

He also called on relevant aviation authorities to put measures in place to guarantee the safety and security of their patrons in the event of mishap.

The meeting was attended by representatives from the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority, National Disaster Management Organization, the Ghana National Fire Service, National Ambulance Service, Ghana Maritime Authority, Ghana Armed Forces, and the Ghana Police Service among others.

Participants would be trained in identified areas of Search and Rescue, including communication and coordination exercises and full-scale search and rescue exercises.

Source: GNA