Summary
Santo Domingo. - The general director of the Dominican Institute of Civil Aviation affirmed that the recent reform to Law 491-06 on Civil Aviation aligns the regulatory framework of the country's operational safety according to the criteria established by the International Civil Aviation Organization, Icao, and the recommendations of the United States Federal Aviation Administration, Faa.
Porcella: reform of law 491-06 aligns civil aviation with Icao and Faa standards
Santo Domingo.- The general director of the Dominican Institute of Civil Aviation affirmed that the recent reform to Law 491-06 on Civil Aviation aligns the regulatory framework of the country’s operational safety according to the criteria established by the International Civil Aviation Organization, Icao, and the recommendations of the United States Federal Aviation Administration, Faa.
Héctor Porcella explained that this update constitutes the culmination of the efforts deployed by the country to preserve category 1 of its civil aviation system in view of the implications of the Iasa audit initiated last year by the Faa to evaluate the levels of compliance in the sector. Dominican aeronautical company, and praised the joint effort of President Luis Abinader and the congressmen to promote the approval of the reform of the Law, in a process that included the study of the project in committee and consultations with representatives of the sector.
He said that the commitment of the head of state and the congressmen reflects a high sense of patriotism, by placing the national interest above party or particular political interests.
About the Iasa audit and category 1
“An Iasa audit, applied in accordance with Icao standards, has a schedule and a compliance program that entails a first visit of 5 working days with the Idac to make the first evaluation and present some observations; then a second and final review meeting to verify if the observations from the first meeting were resolved, and then notify us within 45 days of the results of the audit,” the official explained.
He said that the team responsible for Idac responded with due efficiency to all points and questions raised during the evaluation and recalled that Civil Aviation Law 491-06 served as the basis in 2007 for the country to recover Category 1 granted by the Faa, after remaining for more than 13 years in Category 3, which prevented aircraft from commercial companies with Dominican registration operate in United States territory, highlighting that
When category 1 was recovered in 2007, what was adopted as law was practically a replica of US legislation, which facilitated the Faa’s favorable decision at a time when the number of airlines in the country with the capacity to fly to cities in the United States was insignificant, reducing the operational safety risks of Dominican aviation to a minimum.
Porcella indicated that after this process, an adequate maintenance plan was not adopted to ensure that the RD remained updated in terms of regulation, procedures, recruitment and updating of technical personnel and other actions necessary to maintain operational safety according to the parameters. international.
The country was not prepared to pass an audit
Porcella stated that 4 years ago the country was not prepared to pass the test of an Faa audit because the national aviation showed notable delays in its regulations and compliance standards. “I reaffirm, as I have said before, that the country was not prepared to pass the Faa evaluation neither in 2020, nor in 2021 nor in 2022.”
He maintained that the effort deployed by the Idac in the last three years to prepare national technicians, hire the highest level advisors, in order to update aviation standards and regulations and apply new methods to improve aeronautical operations, made it possible to overcome the many weaknesses that the sector showed.