David Learmount/LONDON
The final mandate for the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to carry out compulsory safety audits of any national aviation authority is expected to emerge from the organisation's two-week meeting, which ends in Montreal, Canada, on 2 October.
Approved in principle last November, the policies of compulsion and "transparency" have yet to be given the go-ahead, but ICAO says the papers submitted to the current session indicate a probable 90% approval rate - sufficient to confer the mandate on ICAO.
The organisation's president, Assad Kotaite, has already forecast the outcome from the Montreal meeting as being "-so consequential that I believe the decision of the assembly will have a determining impact on the direction and scope of international civil aviation for decades to come".
"Transparency" refers to ICAO's right to publish the results of its safety oversight audits after six months if there are unresolved safety issues. The fear of having shortcomings made public, Kotaite says, is the sanction which will give the audits their effectiveness.
Another power to be conferred by the expected mandate is the ability for ICAO to choose where audits are most urgently needed, said officials at the assembly.
ICAO predicts that a mandate to operate the world's safety oversight auditing system is likely to herald further compulsory auditing powers, and that environmental oversight is likely to be the next candidate. Environmental issues such as engine noise and emissions are on the agenda for this assembly, but it is likely to take at least five years and possibly 10 years to gain the consensus for compulsory powers, the organisation estimates.
Meanwhile, other items on the agenda include development of a global aviation safety plan, a progress report on the programme to reduce controlled flight into terrain, methods for funding and organising future air navigation systems and an update on the Year 2000 computer software compliance programme.
Source: Flight International
