CAAP’s safety aviation awareness

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) has discussed safety awareness especially on general aviation.

The seminar held in Cebu was organized by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) and sponsored by AviaTours Flying School in Cebu, also tackled issues such as measures to recover Category 1 rating.

It discusses measures to abate aircraft accidents, to gain back the category 1 rating, the rules and the systems that commercial carriers and smaller aircraft operators must have to follow, the issues on accident review and an insights on airmanship and wet runway landings and emergencies.

CAAP Director General Ramon S. Gutierrez said while pointing out safety concerns in the seminar, the country’s aviation industry continues to accord the highest priority on maintaining safety in its undertaking to sustain its good safety record.

“Not just because it is a requirement or international practice, but our objective is to protect the lives of the flying public,” Gutierrez said.

The CAAP is doing “its utmost to make safety considerations prevail, and it cannot afford to be complacent, as zero major accidents do not imply that all of the underlying safety deficiencies have been resolved.”

”There is urgency in our current position to demonstrate that we have strong oversight of the air carriers and smaller aircraft operators active in the Philippines and that our regulations and practices are aligned with international civil aviation standards,” Gutierrez added.

The said seminar was joined by aviation specialists such as Capt. Meynard M. Halili, Airworks Aviation Company owner and CEO; Capt. John Andrews, vice chairman, ICAO/FAA/EU/EASA Compliance Committee, of CAAP; Capt. Amado Soliman, chairman and president, Air Safety Foundation; Dr. Abner B. Bondoc, chief financial officer and deputy director general of CAAP; and Ruben Marasigan, CAAP Consultant for Research and Development.

Since after the downgrading of the Philippines’ from Category rating 1 to Category rating 2 by the United States’ Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), CAAP is working out to regain back the category rating 1. Failure to comply with the international standards set by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) caused the country’s degrading of aviation safety status.