Inspectors key for FAA upgrade

CAAP urged to hire Inspectors First

September 4, 2010

THE International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) wants the Philippines to hire professional flight inspectors first before it dreams of America's (FAA) and Europes's EASA lifting its veil against the country's aviation sector from non compliant nation to compliance status, says the organization's President.

Roberto Kobeh González, ICAO president, told reporters in a briefing on Friday the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) has been doing its best to resolve 89 problems found in local aviation.

The ICAO issued a Significant Safety Concern (SSC) tag on the Philippines in 2009 after a Universal Safety Oversight Audit inspection.

Gonzáles said it was a difficult and painful decision to downgrade the Philippines but decision had to be made to protect the flying passengers, foreign and domestic.

Some of the deficiencies were "lack of plan for certifying air operators in accordance with the Civil Aviation Regulations of 2008, as well as the lack of surveillance inspections of air operators and the aviation industry as a whole." he said.

"As of Aug. 16, the CAAP has resolved 77 out of the 89 problems. But definitely the main concern that the CAAP should address is the lack of trained inspectors. We have talked about outsourcing some inspectors for the meantime while the CAAP is training the local inspectors," Mr. González added.

Should the Philippines solved the problem of the flight inspectors, Mr. Gonzáles promised the country to restore the Philippines to the world map of international aviation. In January 2008, the United States FAA downgraded the Philippines to Category 2 from Category 1 following an International Aviation Safety Audit in November 2007. The European Union followed suit in 2009

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