WASHINGTON: India and Columbia are the “two most dangerous places in the world to fly,” according to the International Airline and Passengers Association (TAPA).

‘The first issue of [APA’s travel safety alert newsletter has also said that these two countries display a dangerous lack of concern for air traffic safety.

The newsletter titled IAPA travel safety alert, which was mailed to more than 110,000 members worldwide last week warmed members to “avoid domestic flights” in India and “avoid all flights” in Columbia.

The warming, which appeared on Page 1 of the newsletter said that “with fatal accident rates 10 times higher than the rest of the world and 20 times lighter than JAPA honor roll airlines, “India and Columbia were two of the “most dangerous places to fly.”

The report of the 30yearold organization, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, said that while India’s problems effect only domestic flights, Columbia’s problems also extend to its international flights.

‘The IAPA said if North American and European carriers had the same 10year accident ratio as Columbia and India, “there would be one fatal crash every 12 days in

“North America and one fatal crash “each month in Europe,”

This, it said, would lead to the ‘public being “justifiably outraged,” and predicted that “there is no question governments would ground every commercial airliner in these jurisdictions.” The IAPA said in the case of India and Columbia, the problem is governmental. It noted that for over 15 years, governments, of these two countries have refused to deal with problems affecting air travel safety, unsafe airports, poor infrastructure, questionable pilot training and a lack of discipline and professionalism in the cockpit.

The IAPA report said in studying 50 years of accidents, we have learned there seldom is a single cause of a crash.

Various elements, the report said, conspire and amplify each other sloppy maintenance, poor aircraft design, inadequate or antiquated navigational infrastructure, weather, darkness, inadequate pilot training, pilot error and other human factors.

It pointed out that when the Government of Italy had warned its citizens not to fly in India, New Delhi had protested to Italy rather than do anything to address safely problems. The problems ranged from pilot skills and air traffic infrastructure being below “even minimum standards.”

These problems, it said were compounded by the political instability in certain areas of India such as Assam and Jammu and Kashmir.

However, the report clarified that nothing in the area refused to Air India.

“TAPA Travel Safety Alert rates Air India acceptable,” it said.

He said: “We looked at all the data available, the accident history over a long period of time. We took at least a 10year period for our overall analysis.”

He said the Columbian Government had requested IAPA to help them and a safety expert had been sent to Columbia and he was now doing his report with his recommendations, However, he said the alert “still stands for Columbia.”

 

In a separate section of the newsletter listing “Worldwide risk areas,” with regard to South Asia. It listed Assam, Jammu and Kashmir in India, north and caste provinces in Sri Lanka the interior of Sind, tribal areas of Northwest Frontier Province and Baluchistan in Pakistan.

Article extracted from this publication >>  September 24, 1993