Mon, Oct 11, 2004
Will Start Publishing Info On Safety Slackards
The ICAO says it's just unacceptable
for countries to continue putting millions of air passengers at
risk by neglecting or ignoring altogether safety standards. So the
UN agency is going to start talking about which countries are
guilty of what violations.
The ICAO general assembly, meeting in Montreal last week, heard
that only a third of its standards on pilot training, equipment
operation and navigation have been put into effect around the
world. The French news agency AFP reports 50 countries around the
globe have ignored the standards altogether.
But even the ICAO admits, keeping track of violators is one
tough job. Commercial passenger aircraft can be registered in one
country, leased out to a company in another country, used by a
company registered in a third country and get its operating permits
in a fourth, according to the AFP.
The French news agency cites as an example a UTA 727 that went
down in Benin Christmas day (below). The aircraft reportedly had
been poorly maintained, was loaded by a poorly trained ground crew,
and tried to take off from a runway that was too short. The result:
the 727 went down in the sea, killing 139 of the 161 people on
board. In the year before its demise, that aircraft had been
registered in three different countries.
So now the ICAO will start publishing what had been confidential
reports on companies and countries that disregard safety standards
both in the air and on the ground. It's something the organization
hasn't been willing to do in the past -- but officials say they
have few choices if they want to keep passengers and crewmembers
safe.
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