Aviation Co-ordination Services rejects Acsa claims over OR Tambo grenade security breach

Aviation Co-ordination Services (ACS) has rejected Airports Company South Africa’s (Acsa) claims after a man travelled to Ethiopia from OR Tambo International Airport with two deactivated grenades.

The incident came to light when Ethiopian Airlines notified Acsa that a passenger who had departed from OR Tambo in Johannesburg was found with training grenades during reverse hold baggage screening at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Mistake

This triggered an immediate urgent response with Acsa announcing its intention to terminate the services of ACS, the third-party operator responsible for hold baggage screening (HBS) at OR Tambo International Airport.

ACS CEO Duke Phahla said the training items were mistakenly cleared due to outdated equipment at the airport.

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Risk

Phala said, contrary to Acsa’s claims, it is not entitled to terminate the provision of services by ACS and accused the airport operator of blocking ACS from replacing HBS equipment at airports with more advanced and reliable screening technology, putting aviation security at risk.

“Had ACS been permitted to carry out the long-term HBS equipment upgrade and replacement, the security incident that took place on 25 May may well have been avoided.

“Our investigation found that the screener on duty was fully certified by the South African Civil Aviation Authority and the company that he worked for was appointed on the panel of security service providers and vetted by Acsa,” Phala said.

Screener dismissed

Phala said the screener had completed all required training, had passed recent assessments and had over 10 years of screening experience.

However, he said that due to the seriousness of the breach, the screener was immediately suspended and later dismissed following the outcome of a formal disciplinary process.

“While the investigation concluded that human error was the immediate cause of the incident, it is critical that it be viewed in the broader context of the long-standing obstruction by Acsa of ACS’s efforts to replace the HBS equipment with more advanced and reliable screening technology.”

Phala said ACS has “zero tolerance to any form of security breach” and deemed this incident to be gross negligence by the screener, which led to dismissal.

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