THE PLANNED two-day US aviation safety summit, called after the fourth major airline crash in recent months, was scheduled to have begun in Washington DC on 9 January.
The US Transportation Department says that the meeting, intended for airline executives, safety officials, pilots and aircraft manufacturers, was to focus on ways to improve safety measures and boost public confidence in the airline industry. Some 800 aviation officials are expected to have attended the meeting.
The summit is part of a three-pronged strategy to examine and enhance safety standards. Transportation secretary Federico Pena has also ordered rapid implementation of new safety rules for regional airlines and a comprehensive review of all commercial-airline safety-oversight procedures and programmes.
Topics on the agenda for discussion at the meeting - parts of which were to be closed to the public - include crew training, weather, aircraft-maintenance procedures and inspections and flight operations.
Source: Flight International
