The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) just announced that El Salvador complies with international safety standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and has given the country a Category 1 rating following a reassessment of its civil aviation authority. El Salvador was previously rated Category 2.

Inspectors from the FAA Flight Standards International Field Office, located in Miami, FL, worked closely with the Central American Aviation Safety Agency in providing technical resources to help El Salvador take the actions necessary to meet its ICAO obligations.   

This announcement is part of the FAA's International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) program, under which the agency assesses the civil aviation authorities of all countries with air carriers that operate to the United States and makes that information available to the public.

The assessments are not an indication of whether individual foreign carriers are safe or unsafe. Rather, they determine whether or not foreign civil aviation authorities (CAA) are meeting ICAO safety standards, not FAA regulations.

Countries with air carriers that fly to the United States must adhere to the safety standards of ICAO, the United Nations' technical agency for aviation that establishes international standards and recommended practices for aircraft operations and maintenance.

The FAA, with the cooperation of the host civil aviation authority, assesses countries with airlines that have operating rights to or from the United States or have requested such rights.

Specifically, the FAA determines whether a foreign civil aviation authority has an adequate infrastructure for international aviation safety oversight as defined by ICAO standards. The basic elements that the FAA considers necessary include:

• laws enabling the appropriate government office to adopt regulations necessary to meet the minimum requirements of ICAO;
• current regulations that meet those requirements
• procedures to carry out the regulatory requirements
• air carrier certification, routine inspection, and surveillance programs, and
• organizational and personnel resources to implement and enforce the above.

The FAA has established two ratings for the status of these civil aviation authorities at the time of the assessment: (1) does comply with ICAO standards, (2) does not comply with ICAO standards.

FMI: www.faa.gov