Member States of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) confirmed their support today for the Organization"™s comprehensive conflict zone risk mitigation work programme, including a proposal to develop a prototype online resource for global conflict zone risk assessments.
The over 850 government and industry participants to ICAO"™s High Level Safety Conference confirmed their strong backing for the UN aviation agency"™s conflict zone objectives in recommendations that will now be guided by the 36-State ICAO Council.
"Under the Chicago Convention, each State is responsible for assessing civil aviation conflict zone risks in their territories, and for making that information promptly available to other States and airlines," commented ICAO Council President Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu. "The Task Force we convened after the loss of MH17 identified that both States and airlines could benefit from greater information sharing on conflict zones, including risks assessments for a given conflict area, and that a centralized online resource could help facilitate the exchange of information needed to achieve that objective."
"This prototype online database was one of the more important aspects of the overall risk mitigation strategy proposed by the Conflict Zone Task Force," added ICAO Secretary General Raymond Benjamin. "The intention is for this central repository to be hosted by ICAO and to serve as a single source for up-to-date risk assessments from States and relevant international organizations. Importantly, it would also link all risk assessment data presented with the State or organization which provided it, and a suitable legal framework would be established to ensure that ICAO would not face liability implications arising from the information which States and agencies submit."
Other priorities of the conflict zone work programme which were supported by the conference include the harmonization of terminology used for risk assessments, a comprehensive review of existing requirements and message formats, and industry led-initiatives to share operational information and be more transparent with passengers on conflict zone risk methodologies being applied.
