Safety test fail for Thai aviation authorities: Fear of backlash

19 มิถุนายน 2558

Thailand now one of 13 countries red-flagged after air safety audit, including Botswana, Haiti & Angola. Issues to correct include personnel licensing & training, airworthiness assessment & certification, airline operations oversight & airline operator certificates.

Thailand now one of 13 countries red-flagged after air safety audit, including Botswana, Haiti & Angola. Issues to correct include personnel licensing & training, airworthiness assessment & certification, airline operations oversight & airline operator certificates.

AIR SAFETY

Thai aviation authories fail safety test: Fear of backlash

19/06/2015
Abridged from article by Boonsong Kositchotethana & Amornrat Mahitthirook

The red flag slapped by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on Thailand's aviation safety supervision on Thursday may result in a further backlash to the airline industry. It could mean several more countries will be under pressure to put flights operated by Thai-registered airlines to their airports under closer scrutiny or even curb them. There is a risk that Japan may not allow airlines such as Thai AirAsia X to operate flights to Sapporo. South Korea and China could also tighten restrictions.

The UN agency in charge of global aviation standards on Thursday gave a red flag to Thailand after the country failed to meet the deadline for corrective action. Thailand is one of 13 countries including the likes of Botswana, Haiti and Angola to be red-flagged by the ICAO among 187 whose aviation standards were audited. The red flag, however, did not appear to be a formal downgrade to Category 2, which would severely affect Thai airlines operating to foreign countries, but rather a lesser sanction. The ICAO expressed grave concerns about lapses in personnel licensing and training, airworthiness assessment and certification, airline operations oversight and issues involving the granting of operator certificates to airlines.

The move came as a complete surprise to the Thai aviation industry, with Transport Minister Prajin Juntong having said earlier in the week that the ICAO was satisfied with progress on safety concerns raised by the agency. The misleading information given by the minister was due to miscommunication and misinterpretation of the statement given by top ICAO officials to a Thai delegation who visited the ICAO's Montreal office just ahead of the deadline to seek reprieve.

The ICAO's concerns were displayed online in compliance with its guidelines when Thailand failed to beat the deadline for satisfactory correction. The agency is required to reveal the information publicly 90 days after a state is unable to correct flaws identified in its audit. The ICAO showed a yellow card to Thailand after an audit in January when the Civil Aviation Department scored very poorly.

A Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) source said although progress had been made on tackling concerns raised by the ICAO, such as producing safety guideline manuals and recruiting more staff, the process was still incomplete, particularly the AOC issuing process, which would take more time. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has informed Thai authorities it will make an announcement on the issue next Thursday. DCA audit results of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is slated for July 13.