ICAO task force completes conflict zone work

A group put together by the International Civil Aviation Organization has developed a risk-mitigation program for airlines.    A task force within the International Civil Aviation Organization has adopted a proposed work program aimed at helping airlines mitigate conflict-zone risks.
   This was the third and final meeting of ICAO’s Task Force on Risks to Civil Aviation. The work will now be presented for comment to ICAO’s members during the United Nations High-level Safety Conference in February.
   ICAO’s work began in reaction to the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in July.
   According to an ICAO press release, task force participants left the meeting “expressing clear satisfaction with the substantial progress achieved.”
   The task force’s work included developing risk-assessment categories that would guide airlines when making routing decisions over conflict hotspots. A final program would also offer some sort of intelligence sharing.   
   “We had a considerable set of challenges put to us when this task force was established, and I am very pleased with the excellent results we’ve been able to determine in the very short period of time available,” the task force’s chairman, David McMillan, stated. “Those of us in the room very much understood that flying is still the safest way to travel, but we also recognized the public’s unease where conflict zone risk is concerned.”