| News Release 27 February 2003 |
CHIEF EXECUTIVE APPOINTED TO HELP REGULATE THE SAFETY OF CIVIL AVIATION IN THE UK’S OVERSEAS TERRITORIES
The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) today announced that Mr Rod Dean has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of CAA subsidiary Air Safety Support International (ASSI). The company has been set up to help provide a more cohesive system of civil aviation safety regulation in the UK's Overseas Territories. Mr Dean will take up his appointment on 1st April 2003.
Rod Dean has been Head of the General Aviation Department (GAD) with the CAA for almost three years. This role has predominantly involved safety regulation of the operational aspects of the 10,000 plus aircraft in the UK’s general aviation fleet, and safety promotion in particular. GAD is also concerned with the safety regulation of some commercial air transport activity and with corporate aircraft. The introduction of the UK’s National Private Pilots Licence has been a recent particularly important project for GAD and involved wide industry consultation.
ASSI Chairman, Roy Swainson, said: "Rod Dean brings a wealth of experience in the regulatory field, particularly that involving general and corporate aviation. I am very pleased that he will be able to join us in working with the Directorates of Civil Aviation in the Overseas Territories to build on their efforts to ensure high levels of safety."
ASSI has been set up by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) under Directions from the UK’s Department for Transport (DfT), and will help provide a more cohesive system of civil aviation safety regulation in the Overseas Territories. It will be responsible for supporting their existing civil aviation authorities in the safety regulation of all aspects of civil aviation, including the licensing of personnel and airports and the certification of aircraft, airlines, and air traffic control. ASSI will be run as a not-for-profit company funded by the DfT.
ASSI will begin operations on 1 April 2003 and will work from offices in West Sussex in the UK and an operational base in Antigua. At least nine of its 26 staff are expected to be based outside the UK.
For further information please contact Jonathan Nicholson on 020 7453 6027.
Notes to editors:
International civil aviation is governed by the 1944 Convention on International Civil Aviation - 'the Chicago Convention'. The Convention obliges contracting states to regulate their industries in accordance with the standards and recommended practices established by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). The Overseas Territories are not contracting states in their own right but are considered to be part of the UK for the purposes of the Convention.
The UK was audited under ICAO’s Universal Aviation Safety Oversight Audit Programme in July 2000. This looked at the UK’s regulation of aircraft, airlines and licensed personnel and included a visit to two of the Territories. In the report of the audit ICAO recommended that the UK should exercise greater oversight of aviation safety regulatory activities in the territories.
The Governor in each Territory will retain overall responsibility for safety regulation of its aviation industry, but will delegate this to either the existing local Government body or to ASSI or, in some cases, the existing local Government body with assistance from ASSI.
The Civil Aviation Authority (Overseas Territories) Directions 2003 were issued under section 6 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982.
*The Overseas Territories covered by ASSI are: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, St Helena and Dependencies, and The Turks and Caicos Islands. In the future, ASSI's remit will be extended to other Territories that commence civil aviation activities.
