PAL Airlines (Santiago) on May 27 saw its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) suspended because the local DGAC (Chile’s Civil Aviation Directorate) detected the airline did not accomplish technical requirements that may risk the operational safety of the airline if these issues are not corrected. The DGAC decided to stop all PAL Airlines operations until these issues are corrected. According to DGAC, PAL Airlines is working to recover its AOC in the coming days.
Here is the statement by the AGAC (translated from Spanish):
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) reports that according to the audits that are usually performed, the audits revealed that Principal Chile SA Airlines (PAL) has failed to comply with the technical requirements for its Air Operators Certification (AOC). Therefore its operation could jeopardize security if detected problems are not solved.
Therefore, citizens of Chile are informed that if these problems are not resolved, all air operations of this company will be suspended until the company hows its ability to comply with the technical requirements of aviation regulations .
The company is committed to provide a solution, as soon as possible, to the problems identified so as to continue to operate with the utmost safety .
The DGAC regrets the inconvenience this may cause, but the obligation of the Aeronautics Division is to ensure aviation safety.
Meanwhile PAL Airlines has stated it is working hard to relocate its maintenance facilities to another area of Santiago Airport (the original facilities were already demolished).
PAL is working hard to recover its AOC and expects to obtain it again in the next 4-5 days.
PAL Airlines has issued this statement about its efforts to restore its AOC (in Spanish): CLICK HERE
Special thanks to Alvaro Romero reporting from Chile.
Copyright Photo: Alvaro Romero/ModoCharlie.com. Ex-United Boeing 737-322 CC-ACE (msn 24669) completes its final approach back to the Santiago hub.
….and I thought PAL stands for Philippine Airlines. Whew!