Vietnam stepping up flight-safety monitoring project

The second and third stages of a US-sponsored project to enhance Vietnam’s capacity to monitor flight safety are slated to start simultaneously next Tuesday, an aviation official has said.
Ho Minh Tan, head of the Flight Safety Standards Department under the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), said by next August instructions will be in place to carry out aviation safety regulations issued in the project’s first stage, which was completed in 2007.
Establishing procedures for approving flight-monitor officials and databases on safety is another goal, Tan added.
According to the official, national carrier Vietnam Airlines is yet to open a direct route to the US, as the US$1.4 million project launched two years ago has not yet been completed.
A country’s capacity to monitor its airlines’ flight safety is a prerequisite for the US to grant the airlines’ permission to open a direct route to it, Tan explained.
Once the project is completed, CAAV will invite the US Federal Aviation Administration to assess Vietnam’s flight-safety monitoring capacity – expected to happen between August and October next year, he said.