Audits of national air-transport standards by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) should be an accepted norm, says the agency's chief, Dr Assad Kotaite, calling on its 185 members to give ICAO the necessary powers.
Speaking on 24 February at the current session of the ICAO Council, Kotaite has put some detail to a principle which he first proposed at January's Washington DC conference on International Aviation Safety and Security in the 21st Century.
The means, he now suggests, "-might well be found in the introduction of international technical inspections, or safety and security audits, which call on states to rectify disclosed deficiencies. ICAO, as an international body, should be empowered to check closely the implementation of safety and security standards, and to carry out regular inspections".
Kotaite claims that safety and security audits would not infringe on national sovereignties.
Source: Flight International
