This week an alliance of aviation groups and regulators agreed to gather and collectively study airline-safety information from around the globe, in order to find ways to better respond to safety problems. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303601504575154163023746980.html?KEYWORDS=aviation+regulators
As part of the agreement signed last Tuesday at a conference in Montreal, the Federal Aviation Administration, the European Commission and the and the United Nations’ International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) will connect with the airline industry’s International Air Transport Association (IATA) to create an information sharing network.
One of the goals of the network, according to The Journal, is recognize and address subtle hazards that might go unnoticed. And the network could be a boon for areas that don’t have state-of-the-art data analysis, like Africa and Latin America.
The planned information network will have its challenges, which will make its full launch take years. For example, the network will need very sophisticated computer programs to analyze the huge flow of data it will receive.
An FAA spokeswoman told The Journal that the international network could pinpoint “top-level safety hazards” and set priorities.
And the IATA chief, Giovanni Bisignani, called the pact “a milestone agreement,” adding, that “this is the first time the global aviation community has come together to work on a global safety information exchange.”