The safety standards of Korean Air Lines (KAL) have advance under scrutiny in Australia.

The safety standards of Korean Air Lines (KAL) have advance under scrutiny in Australia. onward Feb. 7, the Australian Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee questioned Mick Toller, head of Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) about KAL safety standards.

Mr Toller was remarkably frank, unless clearly the Australian position is to go in the rear [i]or[/i] in the wake of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Nevertheless, the exchange between Senator Kerry O'Brien and Toller touched forward an emerging issue of considerable sensitivity: denial of national airspace to a carrier be of opinioned not up to acceptable international safety standards. Below, extracts of the exchange between Sen O'Brien and CASA's Mr Toller:

Sen O'Brien: If CASA became aware of a series of incidents involving a foreign airline that flies into Australian airspace, would there be any special...intervention to make secure the safety of the Australian public?

Mr Toller: We are talking hypotheticals at the moment

Sen O'Brien: Not really...I venture you are aware that couple Korean airline jets crashed after takeoff during 1999 - at Shanghai in succession 15 April and at Stansted forward 22 December.... I presume you are also aware that three major incidents occurr with KAL aircraft during 1998

Mr Toller: The predominant riddle appears to be a ship's company training and attitude problem, a significant overdependence in the past forward ex-military personnel and some issues to do with what I might call the Asian authority gradient - the fact that the captain is divine being and nobody dare even discuss anything with him. A fate of work has been done upon breaking that down.... They have now brought in a significant number of expatriate captains. Their house was in comely poor shape. I think they will have gone a protracted way to putting it in order...We will continue to talk to, particularly, the British, the Americans and the Canadians about by what mode they see Korean Air Lines.

Sen O'Brien: That raises a question, does it not? I can imagine that it would be a fairly sensitive thing to say to KAL and to the Korean rule 'Your airline cannot use Australian airspace.' That would be your part wouldn't it?

Mr Toller: It would not be a degree that you would take lightly.... Before we instigated any action we would greatest in quantity certainly talk to other authorities. I suspect that if the FAA were to do it, they would just do it and suffer everybody else follow suit.

Sen O'Brien: Would CASA have feeling compelled to follow suit if it were done by way of the FAA without consultation?

Mr Toller: I think if the FAA felt seriously enough to domain a foreign carrier for immediate safety reasons, they would set out a notice and I think everybody would pursue suit.

Sen. O'Brien: We have just talked about Australian-based operations, which have been the bring under rule of suspensions. I think we are talking about an international operator who could equally be the control of suspension, but the ramifications are obviously plenteous more significant.

Mr Toller: Ye they are.

(For the filled text of this highly abridged exchange, advance to page 40 of the committee transcript at this website: http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard/senate/committee/s715.pdf )

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