Indonesia, which has consistently had one of the world's worst airline accident records, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Netherlands-based European Joint Aviation Authorities Training Organisation (JAA TO) to set up a major training centre to produce aviation safety management skills for its own needs and those of other nations in the region.
This agreement was signed just the day before a fatal crash involving Indonesian regional carrier Merpati Nusantara in which all 27 people on board died. Merpati has an accident rate that has consistently put it almost at the bottom of the global safety league for about 30 years. The carrier's relatively new Xian MA-60 twin turboprop was attempting to land in stormy weather and crashed into the sea short of the runway.
The signing took place in the Indonesian capital Jakarta on 6 May, and involved the heads of Indonesia's transport ministry and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation as well as senior JAA TO officials. The JAA TO said: "The objective...is to establish a framework within which the organisations will co-operate in delivering a curriculum for aviation professionals in Indonesia and other ASEAN countries, with competency-based courses conforming to JAA TO's worldwide quality standards.
"This will enable training and qualifying local trainers to become certified JAA TO instructors. The focus on a strong and long-lasting cooperation envisages the establishment of a solid training capacity able to meet the demands of the growing aviation industry in Asia."
Transport minister Freddy Numberi said: "The aviation industry continues to grow at rapid rate. It can be seen from both the steady growth of the air transport passenger traffic and the expansion of aviation routes. These continuing trends are also followed by the application of technology in aviation which is now getting more advanced."
Numberi added: "To keep up with those obvious facts, we are now challenged to provide human resources with compatible competences to carry out aviation which complies with the safety, security, and service aspects based on international standards."
Source: Flight International
