DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION HOSTS RUNWAY SAFETY WORKSHOP

Basseterre, St. Kitts, July 27, 2023 (SKNIS): The Department of Civil Aviation is holding a five-day runway safety workshop from July 24 to 28 to underscore the government’s commitment to safety and security within the aviation industry.
 
This was stated by the Minister of Civil Aviation, the Honourable Marsha Henderson during her speech to open the workshop on July 24 in Bird Rock, Basseterre.   
 
She said, “As a signatory to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Convention, we remain fully compliant and committed to the regulations outlined, especially as a state heavily dependent on tourism, we, therefore, must maintain a vibrant and sustainable aviation industry with it being one of the main tourism machinery.”
 
She added, “Runway safety is one of the high-risk categories of occurrence that need to be addressed to mitigate the risk of fatalities in international civil aviation in the World and in the Pan-American Region.”
 
The Minister stated that the implementation of Runway Safety Teams (RTS) has been demonstrated worldwide to be a systematic approach to safety and collision avoidance on the runway.
 
She stated, “The successful completion of this training will realize the implementation of local RST as a cost-effective solution to mitigate against the occurrence of runway incursions and excursions.”
 
The workshop is being facilitated by Regional Officer for the ICAO, Fabiana Todesco and Steven Baker of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Also, present at the sessions were the Director General of the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority (ECCAA), Anthony Whittier, CNS Inspector at ECCAA, Richard Cox, and participants from the Saint Lucia Air and Sea Ports Authority.