A majority of the member states of the International Civil Aviation Organisation have agreed to full transparency for the results of the organisation's safety review - the universal safety oversight audit programme.
Nancy Graham, ICAO director, air navigation bureau, said at last week's US/Europe International Aviation Safety Conference in St Petersburg, Florida that 188 of 190 member states have agreed to make their audit results available, with six states so far being identified as having immediate safety concerns.
Graham supplied those statistics in a larger discussion regarding worldwide implementation of safety management systems, a standard ICAO is pushing for by 1 January 2009. This requires operators as part of their safety programmes to identify safety hazards and remedial actions to maintain a continuous level of safety. In addition, operators should also continually monitor safety levels and have regular assessments of safety levels achieved.
ICAO is continuing its efforts to aid member states in safety management system training. Graham says that by the end of the year, two fully trained safety management system instructors should be in place at each ICAO regional office.
Source: Flight International
