The world knows about the embarrassing mark the United States’ Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) gave our own Air Transportation Office (ATO) few days ago. This is not the first time our local civil aviation authority entered Category 2. It also happened in mid 1990s.
The Philippines received the failing mark after a safety audit conducted by FAA last year. Our airworthiness was below ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) standards, pilot inspectors lacked training and licensure examinations for airmen were not regulated. Also, ATO regulations were outdated since 1952.
Officials said that the Category 2 rating is for “a country’s ability, not the individual air carrier, to adhere to international standards and recommended practices for aircraft operations and maintenance.”
Now fingers point to the pending bill granting fiscal autonomy to ATO that has been sleeping in the Senate. Someone also got sacked by Arroyo while everyone was in distress.
The FAA simplified their ratings for their assessment into two categories– does comply with ICAO standards and does not comply with ICAO standards.
Category 1, Does Comply with ICAO Standards:
A country’s civil aviation authority has been assessed by FAA inspectors and has been found to license and oversee air carriers in accordance with ICAO aviation safety standards.
Category 2, Does Not Comply with ICAO Standards:
The Federal Aviation Administration assessed this country’s civil aviation authority (CAA) and determined that it does not provide safety oversight of its air carrier operators in accordance with the minimum safety oversight standards established by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
This rating is applied if one or more of the following deficiencies are identified:
the country lacks laws or regulations necessary to support the certification and oversight of air carriers in accordance with minimum international standards;
the CAA lacks the technical expertise, resources, and organization to license or oversee air carrier operations;
the CAA does not have adequately trained and qualified technical personnel;
the CAA does not provide adequate inspector guidance to ensure enforcement of, and compliance with, minimum international standards;
AND the CAA has insufficient documentation and records of certification and inadequate continuing oversight and surveillance of air carrier operations.
Category 2 countries serving the United States at the time of the assessment
Guyana Indonesia Nauru Philippines Serbia and Montenegro Ukraine Category 2 countries that are not serving the United States at the time of the assessment:
Belize Democratic Republic of Congo Gambia Haiti Honduras Kiribati Nicaragua Paraguay Swaziland Uruguay Zimbabwe
Source:
http://www.faa.gov/safety/programs_initiatives/oversight/iasa/definitions/
