< PreviousXXXXX8 ICAO JOURNAL – ISSUE 1 20158 ICAO JOURNAL – ISSUE 1 2015Dr. Aliu also emphasized ICAO’s No Country Left Behind theme: “There is no doubt that ICAO has done well with respect to our safety rule-making activities, oversight auditing, targeted cooperative programmes, and strategic safety management planning. The greater challenge which now lies ahead is to resolve the concerning level of variance in State-by-State implementation of ICAO standards and recommended practices (SARPs).”“We must do more to level the playing field with respect to the local capabilities and capacities each State and Region has at its disposal to ensure truly effective SARP implementation.” The Council President called No Country Left Behind a fundamental and organization-wide priority for ICAO. He said the organization will also be “increasingly more transparent in publicizing related priorities, targets and achievements relating to SARP implementation.” To be successful, the programme will “require the buy-in and support of each and every one of you … especially if we hope to ensure that all ICAO Member States can eventually realize the full and significant benefits that safe and reliable air services deliver.” Of the 140 working papers and information papers submitted for the conference, topics included:■■Runway safety (U.S.)■■Fatigue risk management implementation (Turkey)■■Performance-based navigation (PBN) procedures (ICAO Secretariat)■■Remotely piloted aircraft systems (Canada)“With the outcomes of this Conference and those of the earlier Twelfth Air Navigation Conference, ICAO and the global air transport sector it serves have established a solid foundation and clear direction for aviation safety and for air navigation capacity and efficiency for some years to come,” concluded SG Benjamin. Nancy Graham, then Director of the Air Navigation Bureau (ANB), told participants that, since the 1st High-Level Safety Conference in 2010, ICAO has developed a number of new or improved tools for Member States to address safety, including:■■iSTARS – Integrated Safety Information■■Integrated Safety Briefings■■Integrated Geographic Info Systems (improved)■■Continuous Monitoring Approach (CMA) Online Framework■■SSP Gap Analysis■■Mobile Annexes (beta)■■Implementation Kits (I-Kits)■■PBN Tools and Training■■Regional Dashboards hIgh-LEVEL SAfEtY CONfERENCEFor more information on the 2nd High-Level Safety Conference (HLSC), including working papers, information papers, presentations, and discussion summaries, visit: http://www.icao.int/Meetings/HLSC2015/Pages/default.aspx2014-2016 gLOBAL AVIAtION SAfEtY pLAN (gASp)OBJECtIVES ANd pRIORItIES NeAr-TermPrIorITIeSruNwAy SAfeTyCoNTrolled flIghT INTo TerrAIN (CfIT)loSS of CoNTrol IN-flIghT (loC-I)■■All States establish effective safety systems■■States with effective safety oversight (over 60% EI) fully implement State Safety Programme (SSP)■■States/Stakeholders support RASGs with the sharing of safety information2017mId-Term■■All Member States fully implement the ICAO SSP Framework■■RASGs incorporate regional monitoring and safety management programmes2022loNg-Term■■Member States implement predictive risk capabilities as necessary to support future Air Navigation Systems2027The Global Aviation Safety Plan (GASP) was “completely overhauled” in 2014, according to Nancy Graham, former ICAO Air Navigation Bureau Director.XXXXX ICAO JOURNAL – ISSUE 1 2015 9 XXXXXThe high-level Safety Conference was not limited to the issues of aircraft tracking and conflict zones. directors general for Civil Aviation and heads of other relevant authorities, meeting in montréal, Canada, from 2-5 february 2015, agreed to act on plans for these and other safety issues.mONtRÉAL dECLARAtION 2015States Agree on Wide Range of Strategic planning for Aviation Safety Improvement hIgh-LEVEL SAfEtY CONfERENCEgASPCIVIl / mIlCVrmeTeoCoNflICTrPASPbNSuSTAINAblerASgsSmSTrACKINgheAlThFacilitate effective implementation of the near-term, mid-term, and long-term objectives of the ICAO Global Aviation Safety Plan (GASP).Ensure the safety of civil aircraft through civil / military coordination.Proposed amendment to extend cockpit voice recorder (CVR) recording duration to 25 hours for newly manufactured large aeroplanes.Determine whether enhancements to ICAO provisions are required to further mitigate risks associated with extreme meteorological conditions.Initiate sharing of information concerning risks to civil aviation arising from operations over or near conflict zones.Expedite development of ICAO guidance to regulate remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS) operations.Expedite full implementation of performance-based navigation (PBN) regulatory oversight.Secure funding for sustainable development of air transport.Participate in Regional Aviation Safety Groups (RASGs), Regional Safety Oversight Organizations (RSOOs), and other regional frameworks to establish the GASP objectives.Apply risk-based safety management system (SMS) principles and performance-based regulations across the aviation system through State Safety Programmes (SSPs).Implement the Global Aeronautical Distress and Safety System (GADSS) concepts of operations, including 15-minute normal tracking and every-minute distress tracking.Facilitate improved management of public health events that impact the aviation sector.XXXXX10 ICAO JOURNAL – ISSUE 1 2015The dominant topic of the 2nd ICAo high-level Safety Conference (hlSC) in february was global flight tracking. The conference adopted both near-term and long-range approaches to the issue: a new 15-minute tracking standard and development of a comprehensive, performance-based global Aeronautical distress and Safety System (gAdSS).Following the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 on 8 March 2014, a special multidisciplinary meeting regarding global flight tracking was held at ICAO Headquarters in May 2014. The meeting participants concluded that global tracking of airline flights should be pursued as a matter of priority to provide early notice of, and response to, abnormal flight behaviour. It also concluded that a draft concept of operations (CONOPS) on flight tracking be developed with a clear definition of the objectives of flight tracking, ensuring that information is provided in a timely fashion to the right people to support search and rescue, recovery and accident investigation activities, and it should also include the roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders.To develop the CONOPS as the guiding document for the efforts, the President of the ICAO Air Navigation Commission (ANC) and Director of the Air Navigation Bureau (ANB) established an ad hoc working group (AHWG). Separately, to identify potential solutions for routine flight tracking using existing technologies, the Aircraft Tracking Task Force (ATTF) was established, led by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).The unprecedented loss of MH370 focused “intense scrutiny on the ability of our network to better track our aircraft on a truly real-time, global basis,” said ICAO Council President Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu. He added that, while this capability may not prevent accidents from occurring, technologies do currently exist, and are in operational use, to track aircraft positions when operating outside of radar coverage. “Given that global flight tracking can provide valuable information that can be used to manage safety contingencies and, when necessary, support search and rescue efforts, it must be a priority for us.”The conference’s recommendations included:■■Urging industry to start implementing global tracking on a voluntary basis through the use of available technologies■■Continue developing performance-based provisions for normal aircraft tracking, providing industry with viable options ■■A global aircraft tracking implementation initiative in a multinational context designed to demonstrate best use of equipment in use today and integrate the outcome into guidance material■■Regional search-and-rescue (SAR) training exercises related to abnormal flight behaviour ■■Finalize and use the GADSS for the implementation of normal, abnormal, and distress flight tracking, SAR activities and retrieval of cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR) data.ICAO will incorporate comments received from the States and offer a Standard for a 15-minute aircraft tracking over oceanic airspace for adoption by the ICAO Council this fall. pERfORmANCE-BASEd gAdSS tO AddRESS tRACKINg ISSUEhIgh-LEVEL SAfEtY CONfERENCE“ICAO, with the support of the United States and the international community, has responded quickly to the challenge of global flight tracking. Standards that would normally take years of deliberation have instead been developed in months.” – michael Lawson, U.S. Representative to ICAO on the CouncilXXXXX ICAO JOURNAL – ISSUE 1 2015 11 XXXXX“There is an urgent need to utilize and enhance existing mechanisms for the purpose of sharing critical information related to airspace use restrictions that are associated with conflict zones and to ensure robust risk assessments,” participants in the 2nd ICAo high-level Safety Conference (hlSC) concluded.The discussion on conflict zone information, of course, was prompted by the tragic loss of the passenger aircraft MH17 on 17 July 2014, apparently by a surface-to-air missile (SAM), as it operated over the Dnipropetrovsk flight information region near Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. ICAO responded quickly with a special high-level meeting on 29 July and formation of the Task Force on Risks to Civil Aviation arising from Conflict Zones (TF RCZ).The Task Force “identified that both States and airlines could benefit from greater information sharing on conflict zones, including risk assessments for a given conflict area, and that a centralized online resource could help facilitate the exchange of information needed to achieve that objective,” said Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, ICAO Council President.Based on the Task Force recommendations, ICAO is developing a comprehensive conflict zone risk mitigation work programme. In the near-term, the conference recommended: “ICAO should establish, as matter of urgency, a simple centralized web-based repository to make information available which supports the assessment of risks over or near conflict zones1. The source of this information should be clearly identified in the repository.” This information repository would support the availability of notices to airmen (NOTAMs), aeronautical information circulars (AICs), aeronautical information publication supplements (AIPs), and other types of operational information intended to support the conduct of comprehensive risk assessments related to operations in conflict zones.ICAO Secretary General Raymond Benjamin noted: “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.”The Task Force estimated such a web-hosted information database could cost about US$25 million per year. Concerns were also expressed about managing information which might be unreliable, inaccurate, or contradictory.Other priorities of the conflict zone work programme supported by the HLSC 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.“I think it would reflect on us very badly if we did not see these ideas through to delivery,” stated Patricia Hayes, Director of Aviation in the U.K. Department of Transport.ICAO will provide an update on the progress of the programme at the 39th session of the ICAO Assembly in 2016.Dr. Aliu reminded that, 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.”Irrespective of the impact of the MH17 disaster, ICAO’s Aviation Security Panel Working Group considers the potential for intentional or unintentional long-range SAM attacks to be rare and of very low risk to civil aviation. hIgh-LEVEL SAfEtY CONfERENCEICAO Secretary General Raymond Benjamin, Council President Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, and then Air Navigation Bureau Director Nancy Graham leading the 2nd High-Level Safety Conference.1 ICAO launched its prototype conflict zone risk information repository at the beginning of April 2015.INfORmAtION ShARINg KEY tO CONfLICt ZONE RISK ASSESSmENt12 ICAO JOURNAL – ISSUE 1 2015XXXXXXXXXX12 ICAO JOURNAL – ISSUE 1 2015of the 2nd high-level Safety Conference’s 10 sessions, six were devoted to future approaches to managing aviation safety, building on the 1st conclusions of the hlSC in 2010 and subsequent developments since. here is a quick overview of several of the key topics discussed, conclusions, and recommendations of the participants.“As our network continues to expand, so too will our exposure to safety risks, unless we take measures now to proactively address emerging issues,” advised Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, ICAO Council President.regIoNAl CollAborATIoNThe conference reviewed ICAO’s efforts to strengthen regional cooperation through various initiatives and encouraged that they should be continued, and include the development of a resources mobilization strategy that would help intensify the regional cooperation to attain the priority safety targets.The conference agreed on these recommendations:■■regional Collaboration to Improve Safety in States - aviation safety partners, including donor States, international organizations, industry, and financial institutions, assist States to improve aviation safety by enhancing regional coordination, cooperation, and collaboration under ICAO’s safety policies, strategy, framework, and mechanisms; States, international organizations, and industry continue their support to the activities of the RASGs by increasing their level of participation and contribution of resources, including technical experts, and promoting further implementation of RASG's safety initiatives.■■regional Safety oversight organizations (rSoos) - ICAO consider ways to integrate functions and increase the powers of RSOOs in relation to the ICAO regional safety framework, possible sustainable funding mechanisms, mergers, and agreements between RSOOs, and evolve Cooperative Development of Operational Safety and Continuing Airworthiness Programmes (COSCAPs) into RSOOs.■■Certification and surveillance activities of Approved maintenance organizations (Amos) - ICAO consider the development of a global framework and regional initiatives to reduce duplication of certification and surveillance activities of AMOs.STATe SAfeTy ProgrAmme The conference agreed that a risk-based approach is an effective means for States to manage new and existing aviation activities, and that new or enhanced ICAO provisions, as well as collaboration between States, are required to ensure the safe integration of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS). The conference agreed on these recommendations: ■■Strategies for managing aviation safety - ICAO should assess the feasibility and benefits of expanding safety management system (SMS) applicability to additional aviation activities; establish a coordination mechanism to assist States in resolving safety concerns related to foreign aircraft operators; develop guidance material to facilitate the establishment of performance-based regulations; and expedite the development of provisions to be used by States to regulate RPAS operations within their airspace and to educate users regarding the risks associated with their operations. ■■Implementing SSP - States should use the ICAO SSP gap analysis tool to support the monitoring of SSP implementation; ICAO should develop guidance and mechanisms for sharing best practices to support SSP implementation; and ICAO should improve and harmonize the defined safety performance indicators (SPIs), taking into account those currently in use. ■■enhancing SSP provisions - ICAO should ensure that the eight critical elements remain visible and intact and that their role as the foundation of the SSP is emphasized and harmonize the ICAO safety data collection provisions.SAfeTy INformATIoN ShArINgThe exchange of information is a fundamental tenet of a safe air transportation system and is acknowledged as an enabler to achieve the objectives of the Global Aviation Safety Plan (GASP).The conference agreed that ICAO facilitate a phased approach towards the development of the global framework for the exchange of information pertaining to the identification of systemic safety issues and other types of information in the interest of safety; that ICAO develop a Standard for the collection and sharing of operational safety data, as well as a standardized safety risk management methodology in order to promote harmonization of continuing airworthiness processes; and that ICAO establish a database for safety recommendations of global concern and expedite appropriate actions to make it available on an appropriate ICAO website.The conference recognized that there is a need to adhere to the Code of Conduct on the Sharing and Use of Safety Information. This would enhance confidence in the sharing of safety information.SAfeTy INformATIoN ProTeCTIoN Proactive mechanisms designed to manage aviation safety rely on the collection, analysis, and exchange of safety information for fUtURE AppROAChES tO mANAgE AVIAtION SAfEtYhIgh-LEVEL SAfEtY CONfERENCE ICAO JOURNAL – ISSUE 1 2015 13XXXXXXXXXXthe timely identification and subsequent mitigation of risks and hazards that may result in an accident or an incident. The success of this proactive approach to manage aviation safety depends on the appropriate protection of safety information and related sources to encourage meaningful reporting. The Conference agreed on the recommendations that ICAO ensure meaningful progress towards the adoption of new and enhanced provisions on the protection of safety management information as well as accident and incident records; that States undertake the necessary legal adjustments to efficiently implement new and enhanced protective frameworks to facilitate safety management and accident investigation activities; and that ICAO support States in implementing new and enhanced provisions through a strategy comprised of supporting guidance material, tools, and seminars tailored to the needs of each region aiming at building trust, cooperation, and a common understanding among aviation safety professionals, accident investigation authorities, regulators, law enforcement officers, and the judiciary in the context of an open reporting culture. The conference also considered it essential to establish a dialogue between aviation and judicial authorities to achieve the desired level of protection. eVoluTIoN of The gASPIn addition to the recommendations on global flight tracking and conflict zones, the conference addressed these topics as part of the evolution of the Global Aviation Safety Plan (GASP): ■■Public health - the conference noted the importance of the aviation sector in helping to prevent the spread of communicable disease and recognized the value of a multi-sector approach in effectively managing public health events, which can develop rapidly. The Ebola Virus Disease outbreak has demonstrated the ongoing value of the Collaborative Arrangement for the Prevention and Management of Public Health Events in Civil Aviation (CAPSCA) programme. The conference encouraged States to utilize expertise in the medical department of their regulatory authority, in addition to public health experts in other authorities, to facilitate improved management of public health events that impact the aviation sector and to gather and share relevant information.Capt. V.E.O. Spaine, Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority of Sierra Leone, told participants, “We have been encouraged in the fight for survival knowing that we were not alone but had the entire world aviation community behind our efforts to defeat an unseen but deadly enemy invading our subregion with a ferocity never experienced before on our planet.” hIgh-LEVEL SAfEtY CONfERENCEA few of the speakers and participants in ICAO’s 2nd High-Level Safety Conference. Top photo, left to right: Oscar Derby, RASG-PA Chair; Gerardo Hueto, RASG-PA Co-Chair; Gerold Reichle, RASG-EUR Chair; H.M.C. Nimalsiri, RASG-APAC Chair, DG and CEO of the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka, Vice-Chair of the HLSC; Ismaeil Mohammed Al Blooshi, RASG-MID Chair; Zakhele G. Thwala, RASG-AFI Chair; Bottom photos, left to right: Gilberto López Meyer, Chair of the HLSC Conference and Director General of Aeropuertos y Servicios Auxiliares SCT México; Catalin Radu, Deputy Director, Aviation Safety, ICAO; Mark Allen, Representative of Canada on the ICAO Council with Jim Marriott, Deputy Director, Aviation Security & Facilitation, ICAO; Gerold Reichle.14 ICAO JOURNAL – ISSUE 1 2015XXXXXXXXXX14 ICAO JOURNAL – ISSUE 1 20152014 AVIAtION SAfEtY BY thE NUmBERShIgh-LEVEL SAfEtY CONfERENCE“One of the most important products of our investigations is safety recommendations developed to prevent future accidents. ISASI supports the development of an ICAO global database of safety recommendations.” – Ron Schleede, Vp International Society of Air Safety Investigators (ISASI)■■extreme meteorological conditions - ICAO should pursue its work in studying data and information from accident and incident investigations as well as data and information provided by aircraft manufacturers, linked to unusual / extreme weather events; based on the study results, ICAO should evaluate the need for improved ICAO airworthiness, operations and detection equipment carriage related provisions in order to further mitigate changing meteorological risks and take appropriate action.■■duration of CVr recording - States should support the proposed amendments from the flight recorder panel (FLIRECP) concerning extended CVR recording duration for newly manufactured large aeroplanes to 25 hours.fATIgue rISK mANAgemeNTStates should encourage air operators to effectively use SMS processes before implementing a Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS) in order to gain optimum safety and efficiency of its benefits.PbN ImPlemeNTATIoNStates should expedite full implementation of performance-based navigation (PBN) regulatory oversight by making full use of all available resources to improve the effectiveness of their PBN oversight function; ICAO should develop a clear overview of the different regulatory oversight requirements, functionalities, and activities necessary for an effective PBN implementation. 3.3 bIllIoNScheduled commercial international and domestic operations passengers (up from 3.1B in 2013)904Number of fatalities (up from 173 in 2013; average 489.2 for previous five-year period)3.0 Accident rate per million departures (second lowest year ever)38 mIllIoNScheduled passenger traffic sectors flown (up from 32M in 2013)59%States above GASP target of 60% effective implementation (up from 52% in 2010)7Fatal accidents (down from 9 in 2013)20 Number of accidents, as defined in ICAO Annex 13 involving aircraft with a maximum certificated take-off weight of over 5700kg and reviewed by the ICAO Safety Indicators Study Group, excluding shoot-downs (down from 29 in 2013) ICAO JOURNAL – ISSUE 1 2015 15XXXXXXXXXX ICAO LEAdER INtERVIEWThe Secretary general of ICAo is head of the Secretariat and chief executive officer of the organization, providing leadership to a specialized international staff working in the field of international civil aviation.raymond benjamin became Secretary general in 2009 and has served two consecutive three-year terms. beginning in August this year, he will be succeeded by the first woman to be elected ICAo Secretary general, dr. fang liu of China.This is the first of a new series of interviews with ICAO leaders.“pUBLIC tRUSt, RApId RESpONSE”An Interview with Raymond Benjamin, Secretary general of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)16 ICAO JOURNAL – ISSUE 1 2015XXXXX16 ICAO JOURNAL – ISSUE 1 2015ICAO LEAdER INtERVIEWedITor: ICAo and the global aviation community have been confronted with some serious and seemingly unprecedented issues in the past year and a half. what is your view of the responses to date and the framework being developed for further development?rAymoNd beNJAmIN: International civil aviation came face-to-face with two very high-profile emerging safety and security issues in 2014, issues characterized by distinct challenges which ICAO and the global air transport community have been very focused on in recent months. And while we have benefitted from a number of important lessons learned in the aftermath of the tragic losses of MH370 and MH17 last year, it is nonetheless equally critical to keep these incidents and the actions we are taking to address them in proper perspective with respect to our wider strategic planning.The disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 and the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 raised important concerns with respect to the public’s trust in air transport. Perhaps first among the lessons learned from these two incidents, and especially MH370, is the recognition that our sector must respond rapidly, even to extremely rare accident events in our network, when there is a question of public trust involved. This is why ICAO rapidly convened a sectoral response and brought related proposals to the attention of the High-Level Safety Conference (HLSC) less than a year after these incidents took place.edITor: The tracking issue has attracted the most publicity. The media and the flying public seemed astonished that a civil aircraft could simply disappear. rAymoNd beNJAmIN: You will recall the media frenzy MH370 generated terms such as “unprecedented” and “mysterious” in relation to its disappearance. In fact, the probability of a flight vanishing in this manner is upwards of a one-in-100-million chance when you consider the vast number of flights we safely manage year after year. And yet as soon as it became apparent that MH370 was no ordinary accident, and that the public’s trust in the safety and effectiveness of our network had been called into question, ICAO, ACI [Airports Council International], CANSO [Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation], and IATA [International Air Transport Association] rapidly convened a high-level meeting to discuss an appropriate sectoral response. The fruit of ICAO’s labours was the concept of operations for what we have now termed our Global Aeronautical Distress and Safety System, or GADSS. Over time, GADSS will lead to greater tracking frequency and precision under distress conditions.All of this work was begun in May of 2014, and less than one year later, at ICAO's High-Level Safety Conference this past February, over 120 ICAO Member States and 30 international organizations recommended the adoption of the GADSS.edITor: The gAdSS concept proposes a 15-minute global flight tracking standard for normal operations. what is the rationale for this timeframe?rAymoNd beNJAmIN: The initial 15-minute tracking requirement, applicable to commercial fleets as of November 2016, responds directly to the public expectation that we improve aircraft location finding over remote and oceanic airspace. We also see this as an important first step in terms of laying the foundation for future tracking enhancement. We have also recommended the implementation of a one-minute aircraft tracking requirement under distress or abnormal flight conditions. This more precise capability, because it will require new aircraft equipage in many cases, has been agreed to become applicable to new aircraft entering service as of 2021.“Our sector must respond rapidly when there is a question of public trust involved.” ICAO JOURNAL – ISSUE 1 2015 17XXXXX ICAO LEAdER INtERVIEWedITor: The second major emerging issue pertained to the loss of mh17 and the risks to civil aviation arising from conflict zones. what strategy is ICAo pursuing in this regard? rAymoNd beNJAmIN: The Conference’s main recommendation was for ICAO to develop and host a centralized online repository where States, operators, and applicable organizations could share up-to-date conflict zone risk information. The ICAO Council subsequently endorsed this recommendation and, as of early April, access to the repository has been readily available on the homepage of the ICAO website (http://www.icao.int/czir/Pages/default.aspx). The goal of this portal is to facilitate and enhance conflict zone risk assessments by States and operators. While considering these recommendations, the Council was guided by two fundamental principles of the Chicago Convention:■■First, that States are responsible for the safety of civil aviation operations in their respective airspace; ■■And second, that airspace users are ultimately responsible for deciding where they can operate safely. This decision and process once again point to the air transport sector’s commitment to respond rapidly when needed, but always within the limits and respectful of the principles which have long made aviation a force for positive, consensus-driven progress in the world.edITor: more recently, the germanwings 9525 tragedy raised yet another rare issue. rAymoNd beNJAmIN: ICAO has been seeking to draw greater attention to the importance of mental health assessments for licensed aviation personnel since 2009, and we will continue to do so. But I also wish to stress in this regard that determining mental health to any practical extent is a very complex medical challenge, and that airlines, pilots, and others can only react to what the best medical approaches make available to us. edITor: Since the 1st hlSC in 2010, what success has been achieved in addressing the “big three” safety targets?rAymoNd beNJAmIN: Having analyzed safety data for many years now, and working collaboratively with industry operators to share accident information and results, our sector identified three high-fatality accident categories which we are now working on collaboratively. These are:■■Runway incursions and excursions■■Controlled Flight into Terrain, or CFIT■■and Loss of Control Inflight, or LOC-IThese efforts have seen some clear results. ICAO has been working since 2010 with ACI, IATA, and 10 other national, regional and international organizations to reduce runway incursions and excursions. Runway-related fatalities have decreased from 179 in 2010 to just one in 2014. Similarly, we have seen the CFIT fatality rate drop by almost 85 per cent. The number of LOC-I accidents, meanwhile, has been cut in half over the same period.Importantly, both the 15-minute and one-minute tracking proposals are performance-based, meaning that airlines are free to use the technologies and services they deem most cost-effective when meeting the new requirements. Performance-based standards also carry the benefit of not restricting future innovation, so that airlines can continue to seek the latest and best technologies as they upgrade or renew their fleets.edITor: what happens next with the tracking initiative? rAymoNd beNJAmIN: ICAO is presently coordinating an implementation assistance exercise in the Asia-Pacific region. The region was selected for these exercises mainly due to the size of its airspace, and we presently expect a dozen or more world airlines and a wide range of aircraft types and configurations to participate. ARINC [Aeronautical Radio Inc.], SITA [Société Internationale de Télécommunication Aéronautique], INMARSAT, and other communications providers are already coming forward with tracking solution packages, and it is our hope that some or all of these companies will participate in our trials. The exercise will be completed by late summer with its results going on to our Air Navigation Commission, then ultimately the ICAO Council, so as to inform what it ultimately adopts by end-November.edITor: how does ICAo reconcile these emergency responses with its longer-term planning? don’t the gASP and the gANP already guide the organization’s actions on a more strategic basis?rAymoNd beNJAmIN: Yes, they do. And ICAO had already formulated performance planning and technology roadmaps that would have realized a global flight tracking capability for aviation. This came after comprehensive consultations with States and industry between 2011 and 2013, a process perhaps best exemplified by our successful Global Air Navigation Industry Symposium in 2011.We undertook all of this work in connection with the 2013 revision of our Global Air Navigation Plan, or GANP. The GANP, together with its companion document the Global Aviation Safety Plan (GASP), are ICAO’s chief response to the need for long-term strategic planning for global aviation safety and efficiency. The loss of public trust over the disappearance of MH370 simply accelerated the implementation of one aspect of the strategic performance improvements aviation had already set out.Separate work carried out under ICAO’s Flight Data Recovery and Triggered Transmission of Flight Data working groups, convened subsequent to the recommendations contained in the BEA accident report on AF447, had already advanced related planning on items such as accident site locating, underwater locator beacons , and deployable flight recorders .This, then, is why we are describing the 15-minute tracking requirement for 2016 as a ‘foundation’ or ‘first-step’ with respect to a more comprehensive tracking capability and framework which will eventually be realized. Next >