Fleet Census - Orient Aviation

By Charles Anderson
of air navigation and Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) executive, who is
now president and chief executive of the FSF,
wants all this to be taken in the context of a
natural environment that contains hazards
connected to weather and terrain and a safety
record that had, over the long-term at least,
been showing an improvement.
“But the rash of incidents and the recent
accidents do start to raise some real concern
about the state of the industry there, the level
of oversight and the state’s ability to keep
up,” he said.
The government was taking action,
as were others from outside the country.
“Any number of people are reaching out to
Indonesia to try to provide assistance and
Indonesia seems ready to take it. That’s
all very positive, but, just from a safety
standpoint, when you step back and look at
the indicators, not just the major accidents,
but the runway incidents, the high profile
incidents, they show some work really needs
to be done.”
The Garuda tragedy has, in fact, brought
even more help Indonesia’s way, if only
on a temporary basis. Representatives
arrived quickly from Boeing, the Federal
Aviation Administration and the U.S.
National Transportation Safety Board, to
help investigate. Flight data and cockpit
voice recorders are now being studied by
the Australian Transport
Safety Bureau in Canberra. A
number of Australians died in
the crash.
Voss, who joined the FSF,
the independent, non-profit
organization that pushes
safety research and initiatives
worldwide, last June, wants
regulators in general to take
their share of the load.
“I’m grateful that Indonesia
is stepping up. Other states
around the region need to learn
from this example and temper
their growth. Liberalization of
airlines was never intended to
create unbridled growth. It
was assumed a regulatory
regime would be there, able
to act and able to moderate
it,” he said.
“What is very important
in a rapidly growing economy like the Asia-
Pacific is the development and maintenance
of really good safety oversight right across
the board. That’s why there should be a strong
emphasis, not just on the airline industry, but
also on the regulatory authorities to make
sure they grow in proportion to the rapidly
growing carriers.
“It’s not a new thing and it’s not unique to
this region. The FAA had the same problem
in the U.S. when low-cost carriers became a
new phenomenon.
“My concern is to make sure proper care
is taken with the regulatory
authorities and also that
they develop good and
careful relationships with
new carriers in terms of
the new safety management
provisions that are
being promoted and are
absolutely essential.
“It requires a joint effort
and joint development
‘Any number of
people are reaching
out to Indonesia
to try to provide
assistance and
Indonesia seems
ready to take it’
Bill Voss
Chief Executive
Flight Safety Foundation
A tough six days …
• A Garuda Indonesia B737-400 crashed at Yokyakarta on March 7, killing 22
passengers after it overran the runway. The pilot later reported a powerful
downdraft occurred before a landing which saw the 15-year-old aircraft’s nose
gear break off and a fire start.
• Dubai airport, one of the world’s major hubs, was closed for eight hours on March
12 after a Biman Bangladesh A321 reportedly blew a front tyre or suffered from
a landing gear collapse while attempting takeoff. Fourteen passengers suffered
minor injuries.
• The Bombardier turboprop fleets operated by All Nippon Airways (ANA) and
Japan Airlines (JAL) were grounded for two days for checks after a wheel door
failed on an ANA Dash-8 Q400, forcing it to land on its nose at Kochi in Japan
on March 13. No one was hurt, but at least 80 flights were cancelled.
between the industry and
the regulator. If they don’t
get it right, we are going to
have some difficult times.”
W h i le G ü nt her
Matschnigg, IATA senior
vice-president for safety
operations and infrastructure,
agreed countries with
rapidly developing aviation
markets have specific needs,
he didn’t want to single out
Indonesia. “We’re willing and able to work
with any country that may need assistance,”
he said. “Development is good, but it’s how
to manage this development, how to manage
the growth. If it goes too fast, then we have
to be careful. Our IATA Operational Safety
Audit (IOSA), for example, is a valuable tool
that can help countries manage their airline
safety oversight responsibilities.”
IATA and ICAO split responsibilities
when they agree there is a safety issue in a
country or area. ICAO deals with the regulators
and the official side, while IATA focuses
primarily on airlines. It has also created a
“partnership for safety programme”, funded
by IATA itself with help from Boeing, Pratt
& Whitney and others.
“We do gap analyses with the airlines,
telling them where they are compared to the
IOSA standards. Then we go in, give them
training and help them,” said Matschnigg.
He was also anxious to underline the
strength of the Asia-Pacific’s current safety
record. “It shouldn’t be perceived as an
unsafe area, because it is not. It has a very
good safety record,” he said. “There’s always
somewhere that concerns us more than others
and we have to address this. But if you look at
the general accident rate [in the region], it is
very low compared to other areas,” he said.
Martin Eran-Tasker, AAPA technical
director, believes a lack of resources may
be hampering regulators in expanding
countries. “With aviation growth and
the proliferation of new entrants within
the region, resources to provide effective
APRIL 2007 ORIENT AVIATION 33