[Peetwo]

KL FAA CAT II downgrade update - 

7 December 2009: FAA/ICAO brief on 'next steps' after poor results/findings in the ICAO USOAP 2008 & FAA Nov 30- Dec 4 2009 Australian audits. (ref links - #53 & WikiLeaks cable PDF: http://auntypru.com/wp-content/uploads/2...ileaks.pdf

[b]ref Pel-Air: A coverup: a litany of lies? - Version III[/b]

The following 'the Star' online articles serve up some more passing strange parallels to the Australian obfuscation of the December 2009 FAA audit report....  

‘CAAM had inadequacies’

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• 
  
• NATION
  
  
• Friday, 15 Nov 2019
  By EDDIE CHUA
  

KUALA LUMPUR: A local university found issues with Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) prior to the United States Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) move to downgrade Malaysia’s aviation regulatory body.

The studies, made more than a year ago by the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS) of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, revealed that the (CAAM) was bogged down by inexperienced and underpaid staff and lacked manpower.

IKMAS had publicly raised the issues related to CAAM’s operation in their forums and conferences attended by local and foreign aviation industry participants.

IKMAS director Prof Sufian Jusoh said the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority may follow the FAA by placing restrictions on Malaysian carriers, limiting their flight operations or putting stringent safety checks and requirements when using their airspace for safety measures.

“EASA and the Australian authorities have the right to do so to ensure the safety of such planes flying in and out of their countries as part of the International Convention on Civil Aviation, ” he said yesterday.

With Malaysia being downgraded, the global aviation community would be more stringent with the country’s aircraft using their airspace, he added.

“They can issue warnings to air travellers to be cautious of Malaysian planes, and even cancel flights or revoke codesharing flights from landing and taking off in their countries.”

The FAA has downgraded Malaysia from Category 1 to Category 2 following the audit on CAAM’s role in overseeing flight operations in and out of the country.

The rating also banned Malaysian air carriers from starting new services and they are restricted to current levels of any existing service to the United States.

The carriers would also be subject to additional inspections at American airports.

The FAA will also not allow codesharing arrangements between US and Malaysian carriers.

Sufian said the EASA and Australian aviation authority can also impose their own similar sets of rules based on the downgrade.

“The impact of the downgrading would see a serious cascading implication to the local aviation economy, directly and indirectly, ”

He said the country could lose millions if not billions of ringgit from this downgrade.

“The downgrade was partly due to the Transport Ministry’s inability to move fast enough to make changes in CAAM to manage and regulate the aviation industry efficiently, ” Sufian said.

He also said some of the local civil aviation legislations governing the industry and airlines are also not in line with the current global standards.

“There is also a lack of experienced engineers and pilots to help oversee the running of CAAM in terms of issuing pilot licences and other approvals pertaining to flying and aircraft checks, ” he added.

He said as part of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) requirement, the safety management to establish a State Safety Programme (SSP) should be placed under the preview of the CAAM instead of the jurisdiction of the Transport Ministry’s secretary-general.

As part of the SSP, there is a need for an organisation structure and state safety programme manual.

But Malaysia does not have one to date, he added.

“There is a need to quickly rejuvenate this organisation to ensure that the country can return to Category 1 within the next two years, ” said Sufian.

Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2...7oHqfJm.99

&...

Malaysia averted FAA downgrade in 2003 as DCA quick to rectify issues

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• AVIATION
  
  
• Friday, 15 Nov 2019
  By B.K. SIDHU
  

Picture of entrance and logo of Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia building at Subang.


[b]PETALING JAYA: [/b]Malaysia was on the verge of a downgrade by the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in mid-2003, but a quick rectification of problems prevented a full downgrade to Category 2 (Cat 2).

“Had the legitimate safety issues raised officially by the FAA in May 2003 not been resolved then, it would have led to a downgrade like now, ’’ said Datuk Kok Soo Chon, the former director-general of the Department of Civil Aviation or DCA, which has been corporatised and renamed as the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia or CAAM now.

He said but “we resolved all the issues after the audit within the grace period given by the FAA. We survived the audit and maintained Cat 1”.

Kok said that Malaysia was first awarded Cat 1 in 1996. The second audit by the FAA was shortly after the Sept 11 attacks. It started in October 2002 and the findings were presented to the DCA in May 2003.

Within six months, the-then team managed to address all the outstanding issues raised by the FAA and Malaysia was in Cat 1 by October of the same year.

However, in its third audit, the FAA downgraded CAAM to Cat 2 this week on air safety concerns. While this is seen as a major blow to Malaysia’s aviation sector, the CAAM board is working rigorously to get back the Cat 1 ratings within two years.

Going by regional experience, nonetheless, the path may not be easy, as it took Indonesia nine years to get back to Cat 1, while Thailand is still at Cat 2 since 2015.

“Back in 2003, drastic steps were taken to address several issues that the FAA had raised.

“We worked day and night to iron out all the details and within six months, we made sure the Cat 1 rating was intact, ’’ said an industry source familiar with the matter.

He added that it involved concerted effort between all the agencies, be it the DCA, the Transport Ministry, the Attorney General’s Chamber and several senior personnel from the national carrier who were seconded to speed things up.

Even at CAAM, things are heating up now and an executive committee consisting of board members has been set up to address all the 33 outstanding issues that the FAA has raised.

“Our main focus is to ensure that the 33 outstanding findings out of the 300 protocol questions are resolved. This action began in May this year and we are leveraging on our internal resources.

“As part of our strategy to accelerate the corrective action, we are bringing into our task force expertise from the industry, ’’ said CAAM board member Datuk Razali Mahfar.

He said the FAA would be informed of CAAM’s progress.

“We are also focusing on a longer-term solution to address our qualified technical personnel shortage, their training, remuneration scheme and the digitalisation of our operations, ’’ Razali added.

For its audit, the FAA posed 300 questions. There are 33 outstanding issues that need to be addressed by CAAM for it to be re-audited by the FAA to regain its Cat 1 rating.

Of the 33 issues, sources said five involve changing or amendments to be made to the law governing CAAM. 

This process can take a few months. About seven require changes to be made to the CAAM Act, 10 surround training and recruitment, and the remaining 11 are on the delegation of authority and documentation methodology.

Sources said progress has been made in several areas, including training and recruitment, and other areas are being handled concurrently.

The FAA is like the police in the sky and its job, among others, is to ensure all airlines that fly into the US follow strictly the safety standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation or ICAO, a United Nations specialised agency.

In 2003, Malaysia Airlines handled several flights into the US. Now, AIRASIA X is the only carrier that flies to the US, to Honolulu. The downgrade restricts the country’s airlines from adding new flights to the US.

Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/business/busi...jL2DDGs.99

 
See what I mean...


MTF...P2