Johannesburg - Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS) on Monday dismissed allegations of unfair labour practices and disregard for air safety.
But in an apparent flouting of air safety rules, ATNS appears to have failed to report a near-miss between two commercial flights at OR Tambo International Airport last year.
This incident is at the centre of the racism allegations.
On Sunday, the Solidarity union accused ATNS of compromising air safety by charging two ATNS managers with racism after they recommended disciplinary action against four air traffic controllers over various incidents.
One of the incidents was a near-miss last June between a Thai Airways Boeing 772 about to take off for Bangkok and an Airlink Jetstream coming in to land at OR Tambo International, when both aircraft were given clearance to use the same runway.
The Boeing took off, while the Airlink flight aborted its landing to avoid a collision and went around again.
The internal inquiry found that the air traffic controller did not take action to resolve the looming incident, leaving the Airlink pilot to take evasive action.
On Monday, ATNS spokesman Percy Morokane said the two managers were facing “very serious allegations which might lead to their dismissal”, but would not discuss this further.
ATNS did not respond to queries about the outcome of the internal investigation into the June 2013 incident.
The incident is not in the SA Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) public records listing aircraft incidents for June last year, or in the reports of incidents for that month.
On Sunday, The Star asked ATNS whether the June 2013 incident had been reported to the SACAA, as it did not appear to have been, and if not, why not.
“We’d like to put it on record that all aviation-related safety incidents are reported to and investigated by the SACAA, and only the SACAA can make pronouncements on that.
“We would also like to assure the public and passengers that at no stage were their lives or safety compromised,” Morokane said.
He offered no further explanation on why this incident did not appear to have been reported to the SACAA.
The Star