The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has officially re-categorised Indonesia as a ‘Category 1’ country as a part of its International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) programme. In March 2016, the FAA carried out an audit of Indonesia’s civil aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), and determined that the regulator adhered to internationally recognised standards in regulatory oversight. After a series of commercial aircraft accidents and incidents within Indonesia, the FAA raised a number of safety concerns regarding the DGCA’s ability to adequately oversee, regulate and maintain safety standards within Indonesia. Consequently, Indonesia was officially downgraded to a ‘Category 2’ listed country in 2007. As a result of concerted efforts by the DGCA to improve safety within Indonesia, the country’s ‘Category 1’ status was officially reinstated on the 15th of August 2016, signalling the end of a nine year ban on the nation.

Indonesian airlines can now commence unrestricted flights to the United States and begin code-share and interline negotiations with North American carriers. Despite Indonesia’s amended ‘Category 1’ status, all Indonesian carriers remain listed on the EU Air Safety Ban list. The European Commission continues to determine that the DGCA cannot adequately oversee and regulate the aviation industry within Indonesia. As a result, with exception of a small number of operators, all carriers operating under the jurisdiction of the DGCA are prohibited from operating within European airspace.

The IASA programme was launched by the FAA in 1992. The IASA Programme assists in determining whether a country’s civil aviation regulator adheres to internationally recognised standards in regulatory oversight. Additionally, the assessment examines critical aspects of a nation’s aviation industry including legislation, training, licensing, certification, airworthiness and maintenance.

An Emirates Airlines Boeing 777-300 (Reg. A6-EMW), performing Flight EK-521 from Thiruvananthapuram (India) to Dubai (United Arab Emirates), was on approach to land at Dubai when the aircraft impacted the runway surface, skidded down the runway and burst into flames. An emergency evacuation was subsequently initiated and all 282 passengers and 18 crew were evacuated safely. The aircraft was completely destroyed and a responding emergency services fire-fighter was fatally injured whilst attempting to extinguish the flames. Initial reports indicate that the aircraft had aborted its landing and initiated a go-around procedure; however, failed to achieve a positive rate of climb and impacted the runway with the landing gear retracted. It is important to note that the causal factors leading to the accident will remain unknown until an official investigation report is released.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has imposed a number of sanctions on North Korean operator, Air Koryo. The action comes after an Air Koryo Tupolev Tu-204 made an emergency landing at Shenyang Taoxian International Airport due to the presence of smoke within the passenger cabin. The source of the smoke was later discovered to have come from a malfunctioning flight attendant call button. The CAAC has issued a number of safety recommendations to the airline, including improvements to its flight crew emergency response procedures and its aircraft Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) arrangements. The CAAC also cited it would limit the operations of the airline until such improvements could be identified.