THE Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) is confident in meeting all requirements set by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) within 12 months, after it was downgraded to Category 2 in the FAA’s safety ratings.

CAAM member Afzal Abdul Rahim told a press conference this evening they hope to be back to Category 1 within 24 months.

“The FAA allows us to be reassessed in 12 to 24 months,” Afzal said at the CAAM office in Putrajaya this evening.

“However, we have to convince the FAA to visit us first and carry out a reassessment.”

Explaining what had gone wrong, Afzal said the FAA had given it 300 questions to answer as part of its audit in April.

He said there were 33 questions that, according to the FAA, were outstanding, and Afzal agreed they did not meet the requirements of 22 of those.

“The 11 remaining questions we found to be ambiguous.

“The questions were on legislations, regulations, safety and other aspects.

Nevertheless “we are confident of meeting the US FAA requirements”.

The FAA announced yesterday that it had downgraded the CAAM air safety rating for failing to meet international safety standards.

In response to The Malaysian Insight’s queries, the FAA said CAAM had failed to meet the safety standards of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and as such received a Category 2 rating based on a reassessment of the country’s civil aviation authority.

With a Category 2 rating, Malaysia’s carriers can continue existing service to the United States.

However, they will not be allowed to establish new services to the country.

Afzal said that they take the audit very seriously and are in the middle of rectifying the issues.

“Whenever there is an audit and an assessment by a peer regulator and there are findings they feel are unsatisfactory, we take it seriously.

“What was audited was not the airlines, air traffic control services or airports. It was CAAM.

“They are our shortcomings and failure.”

The FAA’s assessment in April covered eight elements constituting the aviation safety oversight system.

The review was carried out on the following areas: primary aviation legislation; specific operating regulations; technical personnel qualification; and training.

It looked into technical guidance, tools and the provision of safety-critical information; licensing, certification, authorisations and approval obligations; surveillance obligations; and resolution of safety concerns.

Afzal also said that the FAA had offered its assistance in meeting its requirements.

“We will work closely with them to ensure all the requirements are met.” – November 12, 2019.