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.

FMI: www.icao.int