WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1/98 by Alexandros ALAVANOS to the Commission. Inspection of third countries' aircraft
Date: 1998-01-15
Institutions: ALAVANOS, European Parliament
Subjects: air safety, air traffic control, air transport, aircraft, civil aviation, international standard, safety standard, third country

C 196/106

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

22. 6. 98

Answer given by Mrs Wulf-Mathies on behalf of the Commission

(6 February 1998)

The  Commission  is  pleased  to  confirm  that  the  objective  2  single  programming  document  for  Friuli-
Venezia-Giulia for the period 1997-1999 was adopted on 18 December 1997.

The Commission regrets the delay in taking this decision which was due essentially to the need to clarify certain
aspects  of  the  region(cid:146)s  proposals  and  will  do  its  utmost  to  assist  the  region  to  overcome  any  resulting
implementation difficulties.

(98/C 196/148)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0001/98

by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(15 January 1998)

Subject: Inspection of third countries(cid:146) aircraft

On 17 December 1997, a Ukrainian (cid:145)Yakovlev(cid:146) crashed in Greece killing all passengers and crew. Although the
findings of the official investigation into the accident have not been published, there are a great many question
marks hanging over whether safety regulations were observed, whether the aircraft was adequately inspected
prior to the flight and whether the crew had a satisfactory command of English.

On  17  February  1997,  the  Commission  submitted  a  proposal  for  a  Council  directive  establishing  a  safety
assessment of third countries(cid:146) aircraft using community airports which was debated in plenary by Parliament at
its part-session in November 1997.

According to the Commission(cid:146)s surveys, which Member States of the Union already carry out checks on third
country aircraft and of what do these checks consist in the main? Does Greece number among those countries
carrying out effective checks? In view of the seriousness of this issue and the length of time before full adoption
and  implementation  of  the  directive  in  the  Member  States,  will  the  Commission  take  steps  to  ensure  the
immediate adoption by the Member States of a package of measures concerning the inspection of third countries(cid:146)
aircraft so as to minimize forthwith the likelihood of further accidents?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(6 February 1998)

According to the Chicago Convention governing civil aviation, when it is suspected that a foreign aircraft does
not  comply  with  international  safety  standards,  states  have  the  right  to  perform  a  ramp  inspection.  The
proposal (1)  from  the  Commission  enhances  the  value  of  this  existing  right  by  requiring  Member  States  to
perform  such  inspections  when  certain  conditions  exist,  to  participate  in  the  collection  and  exchange  of
information, to ground unsafe aircraft and to decide on eventual collective measures.

The Commission understands that most, if not all, Member States have been performing ramp inspections on an
individual basis for some time. The Commission is not always informed of these inspections and does not know
if such inspections are performed in Greece.

The  Commission  is  however  informed  of  the  Member  States  which  already  participate  in  an  exchange  of
information  without  awaiting  the  entry  into  force  of  the  proposed  Directive.  To  date,  Belgium,  Denmark,
Germany,  France,  Ireland,  Luxembourg,  the  Netherlands,  Portugal,  Sweden  and  the  United  Kingdom  are
participating in this exercise. The Commission is aware that at least two other Member States perform ramp
checks although for legal reasons, they do not participate already in the exchange of information.

In order to enable Member States to apply some of the measures before the entry into force of the Directive, the
Commission  is  giving  financial  support  to  the  establishment  and  operation  of  a  database  which  has  already
received more than 1400 inspection reports resulting in at least five groundings of unsafe aircraft.

(1)  COM(97) 55 final, 17.2.1997.