The National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac) suspended four scenic flight companies operating in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The balance was released this Tuesday (18) at a press conference at the headquarters of the Operations and Resilience Center (COR) of the city of Rio, in the central region of the capital of Rio de Janeiro.
Last week, Anac intensified its inspection actions on companies and aircraft that operate scenic flights in the city. According to the regulatory agency, currently, 12 authorized companies use 46 aircraft in this activity. Data collected from operations up to this Monday (17) shows that, of the 12 companies, nine were inspected. Of these, four had their services suspended.
"We are talking about 50% of the panoramic flight activities in Rio de Janeiro today that have some type of irregularity. This is a worrying and very high number", pointed out the agency's director-president, Tiago Chagas Faierstein.
Among the 46 aircraft, 18 were inspected and nine were suspended. Operations include audits of Operational Safety Management Systems (SGSO) and verification of compliance with operational procedures, inspections and technical inspections of aircraft.
The shares increased following a request from the city of Rio in light of the helicopter accidents that occurred in the capital of Rio de Janeiro in recent months. "The inspections are ordinary actions by Anac. However, given the events that occurred in the city of Rio de Janeiro in recent months, it was necessary to reinforce the actions, especially in relation to companies that offer panoramic flight services", said Faierstein, who participated in the press conference alongside Mayor Eduardo Cavaliere.
Integration
The city of Rio and Anac are working together to organize the use of helicopters for panoramic flights in the city. The agreement is the result of a request from the municipal administration following accidents with this type of aircraft.
“Since January, we have unfortunately lost 13 lives here in the city of Rio de Janeiro involving air accidents with helicopters, which obviously raise alarm and draw attention and make the population, society and public authorities raise awareness regarding this issue”, said the mayor. “The inspections reinforce Anac’s commitment to passenger safety and the regularity of flight operations”, he added.
The municipal administration and Anac are working together to reduce the risks on scenic flights, which are becoming more popular, according to the mayor, as a result of the increase in tourists in the city.
"We are very proud to have solid airports, with a large volume of flights. We have been receiving more and more tourists, part of what we are discussing here has to do with this. Data came out today showing Brazil's historic record for tourists again. This was obviously driven by Galeão", noted the mayor.
“The city council did a job of looking at the authorization and exploration of economic activity and, in this agreement with the city hall, we intend to integrate the exchange of information to be stronger in monitoring Rio de Janeiro”, explained the CEO of Anac.
Faierstein assured that the agency is committed to constantly monitoring companies and helicopters that operate scenic flights in Rio. According to him, these actions are confidential and involve intelligence work.
"They will continue to happen until they are all inspected frequently and permanently", he informed, telling the mayor that Anac will also inspect air taxi operations and maintenance companies in Rio de Janeiro.
"We will inspect all maintenance companies, because sometimes the problem is not with the helicopter that is making the flight, but with the company that carried out the maintenance incorrectly or that circumvented a maintenance document. We will inspect this entire ecosystem to guarantee and make sure that flying by helicopter in Rio de Janeiro and Brazil is safe", he said.
The CEO recalled that there are serious companies that comply with regulations and are doing their jobs correctly with authorization to carry out flights safely. “But what we have to fight is those who are operating irregularly”, he reinforced.
Faierstein acknowledged that the agency is not in a position to monitor all companies and scenic flights in the country, which is why he pointed out that it is necessary to receive assistance from those who participate in the activity. "Aviation is done in layers. There is the pilot with his responsibility, the company, the regulatory body, the manufacturers of aircraft parts. All these layers working together are what makes aviation safe not only in Brazil, but in the world", he stated.
The CEO also drew attention to the importance of the participation of scenic flight users themselves. "People can report what is happening. It is important to say that we have a platform called Voe Seguro, where the user can enter the prefix of the aircraft and find out if the one entering is authorized for the activity. We need people to check."
Regulatory review
Faierstein announced that Anac will review the Brazilian Civil Aviation Regulation 136 (RBAC 136), which focuses on scenic flight operations. The intention is to improve operational security requirements, considering the evolution of the sector, regional characteristics and international good practices. The review will cover the companies' organizational requirements, crew qualification, maintenance and operational safety management. The agency relies on social participation and public consultation.
The municipal secretary of the Civil House, Leandro Matieli, informed that the city hall has suspended the use of the Lagoa helipad by scenic flight companies. As he explained, following the accident with the helicopter that crashed in the Tijuca Forest, on August 8, and caused the death of three Chilean tourists and the pilot, the municipal administration identified that five companies that had operating authorization through RBAC 136, exclusively for scenic flights, did not comply with the regulations for departing and returning from the same point.
"We identified the possibility that these companies were violating the rules and using Lagoa's own helipad to disembark passengers. From the moment we identified this, the companies were informed, and in Monday's Official Gazette we suspended operations on this helipad. Since the beginning of the week, these five companies have been banned from operating on the Lagoa helipad," he said.
In addition to the helicopter crash in the Tijuca Forest, two aircraft collided in the air and crashed in the Recreio dos Bandeirantes neighborhood, southwest of Rio de Janeiro, on June 14. In that accident, six people died.
