Electronic Science – Hisham Al-Duraidi
Mohamed Abdel Jalil, Minister of Transport and Logistics, affirmed that the continuous improvement of the level of safety of international civil aviation is essential in order to ensure that air transport performs its main role in achieving sustainable economic and social development around the world, considering that air transport is the safest and fastest means of transport. It transports millions of passengers annually and brings cultures closer together.
Abdel Jalil considered that the security and safety of air navigation are among the basic principles of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), in order to reduce the occurrence of accidents and incidents of aircraft, during his speech at the opening of the work of the workshop organized on the prevention of aircraft accidents, which the Kingdom of Morocco is honored to host. This year, in coordination with the Committee of Regional Cooperation Mechanisms to Investigate Aircraft Accidents and Incidents in the Middle East and North Africa, the Arab Civil Aviation Organization and the International Civil Aviation Organization’s regional office in the Middle East.
With regard to the sector’s contribution to economic and social development, the minister said that the aviation industry sector provides many job opportunities, directly and indirectly, and many investment opportunities, and also contributes to raising the gross domestic product, so air safety must be the first priority of actors in the field of aviation. civil.
The minister expected that air traffic would double in the next fifteen years, within the framework of the policy of globalization and openness that our societies have known.
In this regard, Abdul Jalil stressed the need to proactively address the various risks associated with air safety in order to avoid aviation accidents.
The official called on all countries and regions to focus primarily on defining, updating and addressing their priorities in the field of air safety and aircraft accident prevention, in parallel with continuing to encourage the expansion of the air transport sector. Recalling in this context Article 26 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation of 1944 (Chicago Convention), which stipulates that the country in which an aviation accident occurs is obligated to open an investigation into the circumstances of the accident in accordance with the procedure recommended by the International Civil Aviation Organization, as far as its laws allow.
Abdul Jalil revealed that the results of the ICAO audits showed that many contracting states were unable to create or manage effective bodies to investigate aviation accidents, due to the difficulties they find in allocating more material and human resources to those bodies, to enable them to fulfill their obligations under the agreement. The aforementioned, which prompted the countries of North Africa and the Middle East to sign the Memorandum of Understanding to bridge the deficit in this regard.
The Minister highlighted that this goal has been achieved based on the outcomes of the 42nd Executive Council meeting of the Arab Civil Aviation Organization, which was held in Rabat in 2012, within the framework of the joint strategy between the ICAO Regional Office for the Middle East and the Arab Civil Aviation Organization regarding regional cooperation to investigate aircraft accidents in the Middle East and North Africa region. .
Abdul Jalil explained that the fifth meeting of the Directors General of Civil Aviation, held in Kuwait, from 4 to 6 November 2019, approved the regional cooperation mechanism with regard to the investigation of aircraft accidents and incidents, and then the multilateral memorandum of understanding in this regard. As a result of these meetings, this memorandum was signed by 14 countries of the Middle East and North Africa region in the year 2022.
He stressed that the vision and message envisaged by this memorandum of understanding is reflected in ensuring the application of the necessary standards in the technical investigations of aircraft accidents and incidents, strengthening cooperation between member states, and improving the actual implementation of the requirements and procedures related to the field of technical investigation.
He said that this memorandum mainly aims to facilitate multilateral technical cooperation and technical assistance in the investigation of accidents and incidents, in addition to benefiting from the available investigation resources, including expertise, training capabilities, equipment, information, standards and guidelines.
The Minister expressed that the prevention of aviation accidents means developing proactive plans to avoid such accidents by spreading the culture of air safety among all workers and those involved in the civil aviation sector, in order to encourage and urge them to cooperate with the bodies in charge of technical investigations, as recommended by the International Civil Aviation Organization, which It aims to create regional bodies in this regard to collect data on accidents in order to analyze them and draw recommendations that would prevent the occurrence of aircraft accidents.
In this context, he stressed that Morocco is engaged in a policy of improving the level of air safety, whether at the level of the General Directorate of Civil Aviation or at the level of the Office of Technical Investigation on Civil Aviation Accidents and Its Incidents of the Ministry of Transport and Logistics, where the Ministry has restructured this office by creating a special department for the prevention of Civil aviation accidents and a special interest in the flight data analysis laboratory, which will enhance the capabilities of the Kingdom of Morocco in developing and improving the level of air safety in the region.
The minister disclosed the special programs launched by his ministry, which are specialized in training technical frameworks and respond to international standards, in order to raise the capabilities, competencies and skills of technical investigators and air safety inspectors, which allowed some Moroccan experts to participate in the Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program (USOAP) with a contribution from the Kingdom of Morocco. In achieving the objectives of the International Civil Aviation Organization.
Abdel Jalil added that the ministry follows up the civil aviation safety management system by collecting and analyzing data related to air incidents to develop proactive plans in order to reduce the occurrence of aircraft accidents.
The minister considered that the workshop is an important platform to learn about future challenges and opportunities in the field of air safety and technical investigation, as well as an opportunity to build proactive perceptions to avoid aviation accidents, while exchanging experiences and expertise in this field and finding innovative solutions.
In conclusion, he called for joint action and mutual support in order to continuously improve the level of civil aviation safety and improve procedures for technical investigation of aircraft accidents, in order to enhance the capabilities of all countries in the technical investigation of aircraft accidents, which will benefit the air transport sector and contribute to the development of the economies of our societies. .