On
Saturday the Daniel Oduber
Quirós International
Airport, in Liberia
Guanacaste, was closed for
some hours, for repairs
reportedly caused by a
hole on the runway.
/ Accidentes Aereos
de Costa Rica courtesy
photo
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Airport
authorities travel to U.S.
hoping to
upgrade Costa Rican
airports' safety categories
By the A.M. Costa
Rica staff
The delegation of airport
authorities traveled to the
U.S. on Saturday to meet
in Washington with officials
from the U.S. Department of
Transportation's Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA).
There will be two meetings, one
today and the second on
Wednesday the 12th. Guillermo
Hoppe, General Director of Civil
Aviation and his delegation, are
looking for progress in the
process of recovery of airport
security qualification before
the FAA.
"As of Monday morning, we began
the meetings coordinated by the
Ministry of Transport and the
Civil Aviation Directorate. On
Monday afternoon we will have a
clearer picture from the FAA",
said Hoppe. "On Wednesday we
will have at the end of the
afternoon a corrective action
plan and the clarity of the
steps we have to follow so that
we have very high expectations
to have good news to the
country."
According to Mr. Hoppe, the
country has followed up on the
actions that suggested by the
audit of the FAA, and it is
important to clarify in which
specific points they have some
discrepancy.
Meanwhile,
on Saturday the Daniel Oduber
Quirós International Airport*,
in Liberia Guanacaste, was
closed for some hours, due to
repairs reportedly caused by a
hole on the runway.
According to the airport's
information department, the
flights were redirected on
Saturday afternoon to the Juan
Santamaría International Airport
in Alajuela, the Augusto C.
Sandino International Airport in
Nicaragua and the Philip SW
Goldson International Airport in
Belize.
After the problem was solved on
the runway, the airlines
continued with takeoffs and
landings during normal hours at
the international airport in
Guanacaste.
As A.M.
Costa Rica reported on May 15th,
the FAA announced that Costa
Rica does not comply with the
International Civil Aviation
Organization (ICAO) safety
standards and has been assigned
to Category 2 rating based on a
reassessment of the country's
civil aviation authority.
A Category 2 International
Aviation Safety Assessment
(IASA) rating means the country
either lacks laws or regulations
necessary to oversee air
carriers in accordance with
minimum international standards,
or its civil aviation authority
- a body equivalent to the FAA
for aviation safety matters - is
deficient in one or more areas,
such as technical expertise,
trained personnel,
record-keeping, or inspection
procedures.
With a Category 2 rating, Costa
Rica's carriers can continue
existing service to the United
States but they will not be
allowed to establish a new
service to the United States.
In 1996, Costa Rica was assigned
an initial Category 1 rating,
meaning the country complied
with ICAO standards for aviation
safety oversight. The FAA
conducted an in-country
reassessment of Costa Rica under
the IASA program in October 2018
and met with the DGAC in
February 2019 to discuss the
results.
As part of the FAA's IASA
program, the agency assesses the
civil aviation authorities of
all countries with air carriers
that have applied to fly to the
U. S., currently conduct
operations to the U. S., or
participate in code-sharing
arrangements with U.S. partner
airlines, and makes that
information available to the
public.
The assessments determine
whether or not foreign civil
aviation authorities are meeting
ICAO safety standards, not FAA
regulations.
A Category 1 rating means the
country's civil aviation
authority complies with ICAO
standards. With an IASA Category
1 rating, a country's air
carriers can establish service
to the United States and carry
the code of U.S. carriers.
To maintain a Category 1 rating,
a country must adhere to the
safety standards of ICAO, the
United Nations' technical agency
for aviation that establishes
international standards and
recommended practices for
aircraft operations and
maintenance.
--------------------------------
Do you think Costa Rican
airports are unsafe? We
would like to know your thoughts
on this story. Send your
comments to: news@amcostarica.com
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