Sir - Andrew Tetley, in his letter about the UK Civil Aviation Authority-proposed stick-shaker for the Dassault Falcon 2000 (Flight International, 12-18 February, P55), refers to an important matter of principle which has received little or no public debate. It concerns the ability, or otherwise, of national airworthiness authorities of European Union member states to act independently of the Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA).
While the UK Civil Aviation Authority should be congratulated on the case of the Falcon 2000, we wish that itcould be relied upon to demonstrate an equal measure of political will over other safety issues.
Consider, for example, the fate of the proposal made by the CAA in December 1989 that the gap width in bulkheads leading to floor-level exits be increased from the present 500mm (20in) to 750mm. This proposal arose out of CAA-sponsored research conducted at Cranfield in response to the accident to a Boeing 737 at Manchester in 1985. Sadly (and seven years later), the proposal is still languishing within the JAA. On enquiry as to why at least the UK cannot implement the proposal, we are told constantly by the CAA, the Department of Trade and the JAA that unilateral action is effectively blocked by European Commission Regulation (3922/91), which specifies harmonised technical requirements among members.
While this group welcomes the harmonisation of minimum standards, we strongly advocate that individual national authorities be given the discretion to require higher standards from their own national operators. Let us put back the National Variant into Joint Aviation Regulations.
J W RICKARD
Honorary Secretary
Air Safety Group
Woking, Surrey, UK
Source: Flight International
