The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) yesterday said that it plans to undertake a comprehensive inspection of seven Taiwanese airlines in the second half of this year to improve aviation safety.
CAA Flight Standards Division director Clark Lin (林俊良) said that the administration has identified three major focal points for overseeing the airlines.
First, he said the administration would ensure that the airlines have completed installation of the safety management system (SMS).
Second, the administration would implement preventive measures against the aviation safety risk factors identified by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), he said, adding that the third point would be to lower aviation risks for the nation’s airlines.
Lin said that all seven airlines have been instructed to complete the installation of SMS by the end of this year, adding that they must establish safety indicators and the goals they want to achieve.
They must also take measures to lower the possibility of medium to high-risk incidents, he said.
The final inspection is to take place in January next year, and those failing to improve safety measures are to face a penalty of at least NT$600,000, he said.
Lin said the ICAO identified three main risk factors: aircraft veering off the runway, controlled flight into terrain and loss of control while in flight.
To help the airlines avoid such risks, Lin said that the administration would check the manuals that flight crew use and how the pilots are trained and tested to ensure that flight crews follow standardized operating procedures.
Lin said that the administration would continue monitoring the airlines’ training and testing of pilots as it had done last year, adding that it would conduct more thorough inspections on aircraft that have been in operation for more than 14 years to ensure that they meet safety and airworthiness standards.
There are about 49 aircraft that meet this criteria, he said.
The airlines are obligated to report to the CAA at least 60 days in advance when any of these aircraft are scheduled to undergo a major inspection, based on the procedures laid out by the administration.
After the airline completes an inspection, the administration would randomly select one such aircraft in each airline and closely examine it for one month before returning it to the airline, Lin said.
The other old aircraft would also be subject to random inspections.
Airlines whose in-flight shut down (IFSD) rate per 1,000 hours is higher than the global average for the same model of aircraft for 12 consecutive months would be asked to propose a plan to address the problem, and the progress would be monitored, Lin said.
The administration would monitor airlines that use Boeing 747-400 and ATR-72 aircraft, he said.
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