Thu, Jul 01, 2010
Government Audit Gives The Agency Three Months To Address
Safety Concerns
An audit conducted by the New Zealand government has found that
country's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) lacking when it comes to
addressing safety concerns, and it has been given until September
to report on steps taken to improve the situation.
Auditor General Lyn Provost issued the scathing report to
Parliament on Tuesday, which spurred Transport Minister Steven
Joyce to order the CAA to produce a report on improvements in the
certification and surveillance of small aircraft.
Another very critical audit in 2005 prompted 10 safety
recommendations designed to improve safety checks on aircraft with
fewer than nine seats as well as agricultural aircraft. Provost
found in her investigation that only one of those had been fully
implemented, eight had been partially addressed, and one had not
been dealt with at all.
The New Zealand Herald reports that the audit lists 12
additional recommendations to help the CAA "address the reasons for
its inadequate progress."
Transport Minister Steven Joyce, who's job is reportedly in
jeopardy because of the lack of action, said "Continuing to not act
on these reports is not an option." CAA Chairman Rick Bettle told
the paper "A program (sic) of fixes has already been put in place.
The work will be carried through to completion." He noted that New
Zealand has a reputation for having a very safe civil aviation
system, but that "(t)he report points to areas where the CAA can
improve its performance, in order to make flying even safer."
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