The US FAA comes under flak
Ron Montgomery, the United States Federal Aviation Administration’s Senior Representative for Sub-Sahara Africa, faced a barrage of questions during AFRICAN AVIATION’s Fifth Annual Conference on ‘Aircraft Maintenance & Engine Overhaul in Africa’ held in Cairo, Egypt, in November, 1996.
The Conference was organised by AFRICAN AVIATION Magazine in co-operation with the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) and the host airline, EgyptAir. The theme this year was ‘Enhancing Airline Safety in Africa through Effective Maintenance,’ a timely subject given the current international concern about aviation safety in Africa and elsewhere.
After the Cairo Conference, Ron Montgomery, who is based in Dakar, Senegal, told AFRICAN AVIATION: “Being I was the FAA representative I was sort of ambushed a few times to explain why, as many said, the FAA is out policing the world. But I think it was all with good intent.” Certainly, the FAA has come under flak because of its International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) programme under which some foreign carriers have been barred from flying to the USA because their country’s civil aviation authority failed the IASA test. Explains Montgomery: “The FAA, as many feel, has taken on the mantle of trying to raise the level of aviation safety and security globally, to ensure implementation and compliance with the international aviation standards and recommended practices (SARPS) of ICAO.”
Some people in the aviation industry contend that one nation shouldn’t sit in judgement on another country’s level of compliance with air safety regulations. This job should be performed by a ‘neutral’ international body, they say. Perhaps this less than warm response is why the FAA now appears to be handing over the baton to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) which is (belatedly?) revving up its own air safety oversight programme. Nonetheless, the US FAA deserves credit for its efforts to improve international aviation safety through its IASA programme, even if its methodology ruffled some feathers. Wounded pride cannot be equated with saved lives.