EDITORIAL - Unsafe skies

Now you have an idea of why the country can’t get out of its Category 2 aviation safety status. The International Civil Aviation Organization has yet to officially release the results of its 10-day inspection this month, but sources reportedly said an upgrade to Category 1 is not expected because the Philippines failed to meet ICAO standards on aircraft registration and flight safety inspection.

That finding is bolstered by the results of the probe into the plane crash last August that claimed the lives of interior secretary Jesse Robredo, pilot Jessup Bahinting and Nepali student pilot Kshitiz Chand. President Aquino, disclosing certain details of the probe results the other day, said safety rules were disregarded by an inspector of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines in giving charter airline firm Aviatour Air Inc. an airworthiness certificate.

Robredo had taken an Aviatour Piper Seneca plane from Mactan airport in Cebu, which nosedived into the sea shortly after takeoff apparently after one of its engines conked out. The President said Bahinting, who was also chairman and chief executive officer of Aviatour, was not trained to fly a plane on a single engine in an emergency. Questions have also been raised on why a student pilot was acting as co-pilot in a flight with commercial passengers.

Yesterday the Office of the Ombudsman started investigating a complaint filed by an employee of the CAAP against several officials of the agency. The officials are accused of trying to cover up alleged anomalies in the processing of pilot licenses and aviation permits.

The accident should lead to tighter implementation of aviation safety requirements as well as better regulation of flying schools. The Philippines is becoming a popular destination for student pilots from other countries, and authorities must ensure the proper regulation of flying schools. You can’t bring the dead back to life, but the tragedy that befell Robredo and the two pilots should lead to aviation reforms that can save lives.