Aviation regulator to invite ICAO experts
KATHMANDU, AUG 03 -
The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (Caan) is preparing to invite experts from the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) Bangkok regional office to conduct a mock inspection and audit designed to uncover any potential weaknesses in the processes and documentation of the Nepali civil aviation industry.
The mock-up audit is a prelude to an ICAO final audit. Caan plans to invite a re-validation mission in February 2015 to review the corrective action plan enforced to address safety deficiency. “Before this, the mock-up audit will be conducted by November,” said Caan Director General Ratish Chandra Lal Suman.
ICAO has put Nepal in its list of countries having significant safety issues as audit findings have pointed out that Nepal has performed poorly in effectively implementing air safety oversight systems.
“We are preparing to invite experts from ICAO’s regional office to conduct an on-site inspection of Nepal’s aviation sector,” Suman said, adding the team, after conducting the inspection, will suggest Caan to invite ICAO’s team for final audit if they are satisfied by the progress made.
ICAO monitors Nepal’s aviation safety oversight capabilities through the ICAO Coordinated Validation Missions (ICVM).
A mission had arrived in Nepal in July last year to validate the corrective measures taken by Nepal to address and resolve the deficiencies pointed out by the global aviation watchdog in 2009. It carried out an on-site audit from July 10-16, 2013.
The global aviation watchdog has grave concerns about Nepal’s air safety, and has placed it among the 12 worst performing nations. They are Botswana, Kazakhstan, Congo, Sao Tome and Principe, Angola, Djibouti, Eritrea, Haiti, Lebanon, Malawi and Papua New Guinea.
Nepal has been red-flagged on “operations” among the eight critical elements—legislation, organization, licensing, operations, airworthiness, accident investigation, air navigation services and aerodromes—which ICAO considers are essential for a country to have effective air safety.
To keep Nepal out of the significant safety concern list, Caan has set February 2015 deadline to invite ICAO’s experts to conduct final assessment of Nepal’s aviation industry. “We have completed almost all documentations as pointed out by ICAO and all reports are progressive to de-list Nepal from the safety concern,” Suman said.
In 2009, Nepal’s rate of non-compliance with the eight areas audited by ICAO was 57 percent compared to the world average of 41 percent. In 2013, it dropped
to 45 percent, against the global average of 38 percent. Caan has been reiterating the non-compliance rate will be lowered to better than the world average.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
