Task force to tackle CAAM's air safety rating downgrade

The Transport Ministry has formed a task force to oversee corrective measures taken by Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) in its efforts to regain Category 1 status after being downgraded to Category 2 by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook said today.

The eight-member task force, to be headed by aviation veteran Kok Soo Chon, would consist of qualified technical personnel and international experts - four pilots, three engineers and one technical coordinator - with expertise in various aviation fields.

With the objective of regaining Category 1 status, Loke (photo) said the task force would be reporting to the transport minister and the authority members of CAAM on the progress of resolving all the assessment findings of FAA.

The task force was set to finalise all rectifying works under the 33 FAA International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) findings which were categorised as "open status" and other related issues within 12 months, he said.

“Thereafter, the FAA will be invited to conduct a re-assessment of the IASA programme with the objective of re-categorising CAAM from Category 2 to Category 1,” Loke told a press conference in Putrajaya today.

Loke said Kok would be on the lookout for people to fill up the task force members for the team to begin work immediately.

Three foreigners from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) would be appointed to the task force, he said.

According to Loke, Kok had agreed to head the task force but did not want a single sen of allowance and remuneration.

“I contacted him because he is an aviation veteran and has vast experience in the field. He agreed to assist the government and lead the task force, free of charge,” he said.

On former prime minister Najib Razak’s remark that Malaysia had passed the FAA audit in 2016, Loke said the information was untrue.

“The last (FAA) audit was in 2003, over the past 16 years, there was no audit by the FAA. So, if the last audit was in 2003, and Kok was the then director-general of the Department of Civil Aviation, Malaysia had indeed remained in Category 1,” Loke said.

Kok was appointed in 1999 as the Civil Aviation of Malaysia director-general.

He formulated the draft legislation and framework for the establishment of a civil aviation authority, the aerodrome certification of all six international airports and the ISO 9000 certification for the department.

He was also a former permanent representative of the ICAO Council in Montreal.

Soon after MH370 disappeared, Kok was appointed as head of the Malaysian ICAO Annex 13 Safety Investigation Team in charge of the international investigation team set up to look into the tragedy.

-- Bernama