Two Former Aviation Directors: Registry Is Fine
Two former Directors of the Department of Civil Aviation [DCA] have spoken out, saying Bermuda’s Aircraft Registry management is more then adequate.
Both Ian Macintyre [Director from 1999-2007] and Herman Tucker [Director from 1994 – 1999] have spoken confidently on the management, with Mr Tucker saying “The political sparring currently taking place in the media is not constructive or beneficial to the aircraft register or Bermuda.”
The Aircraft Register came under scrutiny after the United Kingdom government expressed concerns, which seemed to have stemmed from the large build up of Russian airlines. The Premier and present Bermuda Director of Civil Aviation Thomas Dunstan flew to Russia to meet with various officials.
The UBP accused the Government of poor management saying that the “lack of oversight capacity is the nub of the UK Government’s concerns given that it has contingent liability for Bermuda’s international obligations.”
There has been at least one case of a plane registered in Bermuda crashing. In September 2008, a Bermuda-registered and Russian-operated Boeing 737 Aeroflot flight crashed in Russia killing all 88 people on board. Thousands of other flights of Bermuda-registered aircraft have been made over the decades without incident.
Mr. Macintyre, who during his tenure managed the growth of the Registry from 100 to 400 aircraft, said:
We were already aware of the manning level matter at the time of the International Civil Aviation Organization’s audit and were already working on addressing it. The Government was well informed on the growth of the aircraft register and the Department of Civil Aviation’s budget has been considerably increased each financial year to adequately cope with the increased safety oversight duties associated with the greater number of aircraft on the register, as can be seen in the budget figures.
In the case of aircraft registered in Bermuda and which are operated by Russian airlines, the Bermuda DCA transfers much of the safety oversight of these aircraft operations to the Russian Civil Aviation
Authority under an ICAO approved arrangement, but retains the responsibility for the “airworthiness” of these aircraft. The inspection of these aircraft required to ensure their airworthiness has always been outsourced under an approved contract with the French company Bureau Veritas (BV) and this contract gets expanded on a regular basis to keep pace with the register’s growth. BV is a very reputable organization and is highly regarded by the international authorities.
Mr. Herman Tucker, Director of Civil Aviation from 1994 – 1999, said:
The Aircraft Register was a legitimate and genuine source of revenue to the government then and remains so today. The Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) has always been audited by outside agencies like the UK, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and others.
This is normal and healthy and assists the organization with improving its processes/procedures in order to remain compliant with national and international standards of safety. These audits are always treated seriously by the DCA and I’m confident that the current Director, together with all of the stakeholders, is using all the resources available to them to address the ICAO recommendations as expeditiously and pragmatically as possible.
Bermuda is considered a respectable register by aircraft manufacturers, aircraft leasing companies, aircraft financing institutions and many aircraft operators. These entities would not risk placing assets worth billions of dollars on a register that was considered sub-standard. Obviously confidence levels in the Bermuda Register remain strong as it has grown significantly over the last decade.
During my time as Director of Civil Aviation the UK CAA audited the DCA on a frequent basis and never seemed satisfied with whatever processes or structure we put in place. Just as we would satisfy one set of requirements, the goal posts would change. Subsequent to my term as Director, the Air Safety Support International (ASSI) was established by the UK CAA to ensure a cohesive system of aviation safety regulations in the UK Overseas Territories.
The DCA’s responsibility is to ensure that it has the combined resources, in-house/outsourced and through mutual arrangement with other aviation authorities like that of Russia, to ensure the safety regulatory oversight of all aircraft on its register including airworthiness and flight operations.
The political sparring currently taking place in the media is not constructive or beneficial to the aircraft register or Bermuda. We should be focusing our energies on addressing the issues and ensuring that DCA has the resources it needs to carry out its mandate.
