An ICAO task force convened following the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 has completed its first round of deliberations.

During a two day meeting in Montreal, the Task Force on Risks to Civil Aviation Arising from Conflict Zones, discussed methods to improve countries’ assessing and sharing of conflict zone information, says ICAO in a statement.

“We’re looking for urgent, practical measures to assess these new risks,” says task force chairman David McMillan. McMillan is also head of the Flight Safety Foundation.

The group plans to meet again on 25-26 August. Its preliminary findings will be delivered at the ICAO’s 203rd council meeting in October 2014.

On 11 August, Dutch investigators indicated that a preliminary report into the loss of the Boeing 777-200ER, which killed 298 aboard, is still several weeks away.

Preliminary reports into high-profile accidents are usually filed within 30 days but inquiries into the destruction of the Boeing 777 over eastern Ukraine on 17 July have been complicated by the armed conflict in the region. The aircraft was operating the Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur route when the disaster occurred.

Source: Cirium Dashboard