RAWALPINDI: Pakistan has yet to resolve its pilot licensing issues, as recommended by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), which has sent a reminder.

Pakistan is among a number of ICAO member countries that have yet to fully comply with the organisation’s standards.

The ICAO council, at the 12th meeting of its 179th session, approved a mechanism for addressing significant safety concerns (SSC) identified by the organisation.

It has identified SSCs that have not been resolved by Pakistan, pertaining to personnel licensing and training in relation to the licensing process for pilot.

The ICAO said that in accordance with the mechanism approved by the council, member states are advised of unresolved SSCs that are first posted on the ICAO’s secure website. If they remain unresolved for 90 days, they are placed on the ICAO’s public website.

There are four SSCs identified by the ICAO that are still unresolved.

States with unresolved SSCs that are posted on the secure website are: Bhutan, Eritrea, the five member states of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States – Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – and Pakistan.

According to its website, during the course of an audit the ICAO may identify what is referred to as an SSC with respect to the ability of the audited state to properly oversee its airlines, airports, aircraft and air navigation services provided under its jurisdiction.

This does not necessarily indicate a particular safety deficiency but, rather, indicates that the state is not providing sufficient safety oversight to ensure the effective implementation of all applicable ICAO standards.

Full technical details of the ICAO’s findings are made available to the state’s civil aviation authority to guide rectification, as well as to all ICAO member states to facilitate any actions that they may consider necessary to ensure safety. The audited state also undertakes to regularly report to ICAO progress on the correction of the safety concern.

A senior Civil Aviation Official did not respond when asked to comment on the ICAO’s reminder regarding the SSC.

A four-member team from the International Air Transport Association’s operational safety audit carried out a week-long audit inspection in Pakistan in September.

They carried out an operational safety audit of various departments of the Pakistan International Airlines, including flight operations, ground handling, flight safety and security and engineering.

The operational safety audit is carried out every two years.

Published in Dawn, November 6th, 2020