24 September 2001Air Travel Safety Focus of U.N. Civil Aviation Agency Meeting in Montreal
(Ending terrorist threat to airlines is goal of Sept. 25-Oct. 5 meeting) (370) Washington -- Air travel security will be the focus when member states of the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) meet Sept. 25-October 5 in Montreal, the United Nations announced. In a September 21 statement, the U.N. said the meeting brings together the ICAO's 187 contracting states, which includes the United States. The Montreal-based ICAO sets international standards and regulations necessary for the safety and security of air transport. Assad Kotaite, president of the ICAO council, said the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States represent the "greatest threat ever to civil aviation security, adding: "For the first time, aircraft have been used as weapons of destruction." Kotaite said that the primary objective at the Montreal meeting will be to identify the means "by which we can eradicate this new threat and restore confidence in a system that remains fundamentally safe, secure, and efficient." The U.N. said participants at the meeting will also discuss expansion of ICAO's Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program, regulation of air transportation services, and environmental protection. Kotaite said the misuse of civil aviation as a weapon of mass destruction was "contrary to the spirit of peace and cooperation among nations" contained in the 1944 Convention on International Civil Aviation. "The preamble to the Convention clearly recognizes the power of civil aviation to create and preserve friendship and understanding among nations, upon which the peace of the world depends," Kotaite said. The U.N. announcement was made the same day that Jane Garvey, head of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, said in congressional testimony that federal security requirements for airports and air carriers operating in the United States had been stepped up "substantially" since the September 11 terrorist attacks. Garvey said that in addition to new measures implemented immediately after the attacks, U.S. officials and investigators continue to discuss other steps to improve air safety, with a focus on cockpit security. (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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