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Africa aviation body seeks tougher action against nations air safety rules Monday, 14 Jul 2008

AFRAANAIROBI, Jul 14 (Xinhua)--African airlines on Monday called for tougher action against countries flouting the United Nations air safety regulations.

The African Airlines Association (AFRAA) Secretary General Christian Folly-Kossi

African countries are failing to put in place policies to ensure proper air navigation surveillance services for aircrafts departing and landing in their airports, which makes air rescue services more difficult.

Folly-Kossi told aviation experts meeting in Nairobi that African states must be put on their toes to improve on aviation safety, especially the lack of critical aviation safety equipment.

Citing the Kenya Airways plane crash, which occurred in Douala, Cameroon on May 2, 2007, the AFRAA chief said it was regrettable that it took more than 24 hours to locate a plane that crashed only five kilometers away from the runway.

The Kenya Airways lost its commercial aircraft, a Boeing 737, with 114 passengers on board plus crew members shortly after the plane left the Douala international airport.

It took more than 48 hours before the Cameroonian authorities could locate the aircraft and its passengers.

The delay in locating the crash site of the aircraft is to blame for the high number of air accident casualties.

In a similar incident in Lagos, Nigeria, it took the authorities more than 24 hours to locate the wreckage of the plane, which had crashed just 10 km from the runway.

"Most of the time, passengers who could have survived the accident would perish because of the state's poor safety and rescue systems," Folly-Kossi said.

International aviation safety standards are set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a United Nations body, whose directives are to be implemented by the national civil aviation authorities of the respective states.

However, AFRAA has expressed concern over the lack of autonomy for most of the national civil aviation bodies within Africa, saying they acted as part and parcel of the various African governments, making the enforcement of these regulations difficult.

African airline chiefs are gathered at the AFRAA base in Nairobi to undertake the two-day air disaster management training, aimed at preparing the various African airlines on emergency responses to air crashes, should they occur.

AFRAA has called on ICAO to act tough on African states failing to abide by the air safety standards, which is critical for the ensuring the survival of the air travelers, should an accident occur.

Folly-Kossi said most airlines are making tremendous efforts to improve on aviation safety through air transport.

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