CAAN hopeful that SSC tag will be removed
KATHMANDU, July 5: A team of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) formally started audit of Nepal's aviation sector from Tuesday.
In an interaction with officials of Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) in Kathmandu on Tuesday, the two-member team of ICAO presented its mission and work schedule to the CAAN.
Captain Eugene Voundri and Aeronautical Engineer Edmund Bohland are in the ICAO's team.
Birendra Prasad Shrestha, the spokesperson for CAAN, told Republica that ICAO team started its work from Tuesday afternoon. “The team presented its work schedule for conducing audit of four areas of aviation safety -- aviation legislation, flight operations, personal licensing and air worthiness,” Shrestha said, adding: “They started their work from Tuesday afternoon itself.”
He further added that the team has kept both site inspection and study of documents in their work schedule. “They are likely to audit documents related to Nepal's aviation safety and also make site inspections,” he said, adding, “They will work till Friday, and compile all their study reports by Sunday.”
According to Shrestha, the team is scheduled to brief CAAN officials about the findings of their study on Tuesday.
CAAN is hopeful that ICAO will remove Significant Safety Concern (SSC) tag given to Nepal after studying report prepared by the team.
Shrestha also said that many people have misunderstood the SSC tag. “SSC only indicates that our aviation sector needs to make improvement on safety aspects. It is not that our aviation sector is blacklisted by ICAO,” he said.
ICAO had given SSC tag to the Nepali aviation sector in 2013.
Shrestha also said that the Safety Management Division of CAAN has spared no effort to improve Nepal's air safety standards. “The division is extending full cooperation to the ICAO team,” he added.
ICAO team commencing audit today
