Tuesday, 28 October 2014. Montreal, Canada – In an address before the 203rd Session of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Council held yesterday Dato’ Sri Liow Tiong Lai, Minister of Transport, called upon member states to adopt mandatory procedures and protocols that would increase safety and security standards in international civil aviation.
The address was given in the context of the two tragic aviation events which occurred in 2014, the loss of MH370 and the take down of MH17 over eastern Ukraine.
Dato’ Sri Liow said: “As we stand in solidarity with the families of the passengers and crew who were lost, we must now move forward with a renewed sense of purpose to establish the next generation of safety and security standards in international civil aviation.”
A series of recommendations were put forward by Dato’ Sri Liow to the ICAO Council in relation to the flight risk issues associated with MH370 and MH17 including:
- Real time global tracking
- Longer lasting batteries in black boxes
- Mandatory sharing of information between ICAO, its member states and the airline industry.
He noted that progress in the MH17 investigation has been hindered by the geopolitical situation in Ukraine and highlighted the need to revisit the existing guidelines for investigations in cases where an air crash occurs in a conflict zone.
Dato’ Sri Liow acknowledged ICAO’s actions in response to the two tragedies while urging the organisation to expand its leadership role by introducing to member states a resolution in support of Malaysia’s recommendations.
“If these two unprecedented events tell us anything it is that we cannot delay implementing changes in the way global commercial aviation operates. On an average day more than 8 million people fly and it would be nothing short of negligent on our part to waste one more day without implementing policies and procedures to help keep them safe,” Dato’ Sri Liow said.