The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
Paul Owere and Nazish Dholakia
7 August 2008
Players in the aviation industry will next week meet in Arusha to discuss ways of improving safety, and relook the role of authorities in Africa.
The three-day meeting comes at a time the continent has been hit by increasing aviation accidents that not only claim lives but also affect a number of key economic sectors.
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) will host the meeting in collaboration with other aviation bodies.
According to TCAA figures, Africa has a record high rate of accidents at 5 percent per one million departures, while the whole world's stands at 0.8 percent. In Tanzania, there have been four accidents since 2007.
The ICAO says the continent's average accident rate increased sharply from 3.6 percent (1995 - 1999) to 5 percent (2000 - 2004) per one million departures. It was the only region, which experienced an increase in accident rates in the world during that period.
Speaking at the press conference in Dar es Salaam yesterday, TCAA director-general Margaret Munyagi attributed most of the accidents to human error, specifically to the lack of awareness of weather and altitude issues. And Mr Mtesigwa Maugo, the Executive Director of the Civil Aviation Safety and Security Oversight Agency, said the agency's goal was to decrease Africa's accident rates to less than 1.6 percent per one million departures by 2011. He said stakeholders from the East Africa region should come together to identify loopholes in the role of regulatory authorities in the region.
Apart from the five EAC member states, other countries that have been invited are Malawi, Mozambique, Ethiopia, The Comoros and Zambia.
The World Bank, European Union and the United States through the Federal Aviation Administration, are also expected to attend.
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