VOA慢速英語: 聯(lián)合國國際民用航空組織質(zhì)疑泰航的安全性

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The UN International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) reported “significantsafety concerns” with Thailand’s air safety practices last week. The negativereport may prevent some flights from coming out of the kingdom and forcedThailand’s government to deal quickly with the results on Monday.

Responding to the ICAO’s negative review, Japan and South Korea decided to block new charter and scheduled flights from Thailand. This means existing flights can still land in Japan and Korea. However, they cannotchange their equipment or schedules.

Thailand is concern that other countries, including the United States, will takesimilar action. That action might come if the ICAO changes the rating of airsafety in Thailand from Category 1 to Category 2. The ICAO’s Category 1rating means the country does obey ICAO standards. A Category 2 ratingmeans the country does not follow ICAO standards for airline safety.

A U.S. government source - speaking off the record – said the ICAO reportwould probably cause the Federal Aviation Administration to review Thailand'sflight safety practices. He said the ICAO review results were a seriouswarning signal for the FAA.

Thailand’s government quickly met to review the report

Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha met on Monday with Civil Aviation department Director-General Somchai Piputvat and officials of the Thai transport ministry to discuss the report.

The prime minister was the army chief when he overthrew Thailand'sgovernment in a military coup last May. He said he discussed the Japanese and South Korean bans on new flights with the leaders of both countries. The prime minister said they promised to further consider the problem.

Thai Airways passenger planes park at the ramp of Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport.

Prime Minister Prayuth also said he would use powers under Section 44 of the interim constitution to fix the problems of Thailand's airlines. Section 44 allows theleader of the junta to issue any orders he thinks areneeded without asking a judge or lawmakers forsupport.

“This is a national issue. The transport ministry willquickly solve the problem" because "dominos arestarting to fall," transport Minister Prajin Juntong toldreporters after the meeting.

Officials blame previous governments

Thailand's officials are blaming previous administrations for not payingattention to the problem. "The ICAO has warned us since 2005 about ouraviation management and asked us to improve our systems," Prajin said.

On March 2, the civil aviation department gave the ICAO its plan for improvingsafety. It was reported that the ICAO rejected the plan because it proposed atwo-year period to fix problems.

The ICAO's regional office in Bangkok said it could not comment on thereport. It has not yet been made public. The office referred all questions to itsheadquarters in Montreal, Canada.

Some media reports Monday said that in the review by ICAO, Thailandpassed only 21 out of 100 areas. This mean Thailand’s overall score waslower than any other ASEAN nation.

Critics have said there are many reasons for the problems in Thailand's civilaviation sector. Among these are frequent changes of government andcorruption.

ICAO concerns

Industry sources said the most serious concerns involve weaknesses insafety regulations for low-cost airline companies. These include permission tooperate flights and to move dangerous goods.

On professional pilots' forums on the Internet, there have been commentsabout the ICAO safety warning. Some industry workers say that governmentinspectors took bribes. That is, they accepted cash and massages to sign off on paperwork.

One comment came from an employee of a "substandard" Thai charter airline. He quit when he heard that executives had decided to not purchase any moreparts for maintenance. He refused to fly planes that were not fixed.

The effect of a lower FAA rating

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is an agency that oversees airlineregulation for the United States. The FAA will probably carry out its ownreview of Thailand’s air safety practices.

A lower rating by FAA for Thailand would mean, among other things, that Thaiairlines could no longer have code share operations with U.S. airlines. With a code share operation, one airline can operate the planes while another airline sells tickets and markets the flights.

Thailand Plane Blessing

In addition to the kingdom's main airline, Thai Airways, the ICAO safety warning is also affecting low-cost carriers Thai Air Asia X, NokScoot and Asia Atlantic Airlines.

Travel industry officials in Thailand worry that people will get the idea that thecountry's airlines are now unsafe. That could hurt tourism. Tourism is veryimportant to the Thai economy, because it employs millions of people. Overthe past 18 months, tourism has decreased because of concerns abouttourists' safety and political unrest.

Steve Herman wrote this story for VOA News. Dr. Jill Robbins adapted it forLearning English. Hai Do was the editor.

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Words in This Story

charter - adj. hired for temporary use

aviation - n. the business or practice of flying airplanes, helicopters, etc.

coup (coup d’etat) - n. a sudden attempt by a small group of people to takeover the government usually through violence

junta - n. a military group controlling a government after taking control of it by force

interim - adj. used or accepted for a limited time; not permanent

sector - n. an area of an economy : a part of an economy that includes certain kinds of jobs

bribe - n. something valuable (such as money) that is given in order to get someone to do something

Now it’s your turn. What do you think of the concerns over air safety? Do you have confidence in your country's airline safety practices?