Pilot training central to civil aviation proposals
Russia's transport ministry has proposed a series of priority measures to the government, aimed at improving civil aviation safety in the wake of several fatal accidents in the past four months.
These include supporting pilot training requirements, through the establishment of specialised academies and the acquisition of around 90 light aircraft, and lifting import restrictions on foreign aircraft.
Transport minister Igor Levitin has detailed the proposals in a statement after condemning the state of Russian civil aviation safety in the government's official publication.
"It greatly disturbs me that the number of air transport incidents, which we monitor daily, has grown in comparison with last year," he says. "So we intend to check rigidly the adherence by airlines of existing recommendations. Otherwise it will be necessary to deprive airlines of the right to operate aircraft."
The crash of a Pulkovo Airlines Tupolev Tu-154 during domestic service in August followed the loss of an S7 Airlines Airbus A310 at Irkutsk airport in July, and an accident involving an Armenian Airbus A320 attempting to land at Russia's Sochi airport in May.
Levitin claims that one of the weaknesses in Russian air transport is a lack of aircraft on which pilots can be successively trained. He says that, in the days of the Soviet Union, pilots were able to progress gradually from Yakovlev Yak-18 and Antonov An-2 trainers to Yak-40s and An-24s. "But today this chain [of aircraft] has been torn up," says Levitin. To address this need, the transport ministry's proposal envisages the acquisition of 60 basic single-engined trainers, plus 30 twin-engined types.
But Russia's own aerospace industry is unable to meet demand for these, and other, aircraft over the next eight to 10 years, and Levitin adds: "Those aircraft which [domestic industry] cannot make must be bought abroad. For this it is necessary to remove import duties and lower taxes."
The proposal also covers efforts to increase the number of flight-safety inspectors, both in central administrations and in the regional territories, as well as the pay and conditions of instructors.
"We should reveal and remove the bottlenecks in controlling flight safety," he says. "It is obvious that more professionals must work in this sphere, and that their wages must [be appropriate] - otherwise there will always be the temptation to 'close their eyes' to some non-compliance of safety regulations."
Levitin's proposals additionally outline the creation of a logistics network to improve the servicing and delivery of specialised aviation equipment, and the development and enhancement of airport safety and security. Twenty-three airports will be equipped with automated weather stations while others will receive improved security and detection systems.
Source: Flight International
