Joseph Poliszuk
EL UNIVERSAL

Airport diagnosis
 
At international airport Simón Bolívar in Maiquetía, a pilot program will be imparted in eight days to train immigration officers and airline staff on terrorism and airport security. 
 
With this initial program, Ceveta, the Venezuelan Chamber of Air Transportation Companies, will advance efforts aimed at furnishing public officers and private staff of all terminals throughout the country with measures to be applied in prevention of attacks against airport facilities or illegal aviation interference.
 
In its aeronautical history, Venezuela has suffered 59 hijackings. According to statistics of the Humboldt Rescue Organization, the most recent case took place 10 years ago. Though a significant amount of time has passed, William Bracho, president of Ceveta, warns that back in those days even the liquids carried by airline passengers were checked and emphasizes the importance of maintaining a high level of controls in Venezuela: "This recommendation was actually made by the International Civil Aviation Organization." 
 
The US government, on a similar note, showed concern about Venezuelan airport security. The Transportation Security Administration of the United States (TSA) issued a statement on June 5 indicating that it had sought permits from local authorities to carry out in Venezuela the same inspections performed in airports and airplanes all over the world.

Christopher White, spokesperson of TSA's Public Affairs and Strategic Communications, pointed out that, unlike most South American countries and the rest of the world, "U.S. inspectors have been unable to verify properly whether Venezuela's aeronautical system is vulnerable in terms of terrorism and airport security."
 
Even if the National Civil Aviation Institute has declined to comment on these and other issues, airline associations agree that the country is compliant with the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). They do, however, admit that in a globalized world terrorism could also climb aboard Venezuelan airplanes.
 
"We are currently working in this direction, but more needs to be done," concludes Ceveta's president. Concern is not even focused on whether potential terrorists operate in the country. Amidst pre-electoral debates, food-supply shortages and crime-related news, aeronautical security is not an issue up for discussion. Bracho nonetheless fears that foreign persons or interests could use Venezuelan airports to filter an attack.
 
"Someone could take advantage of current tensions and, believing that Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is an 'enemy' of the 'empire', commit crimes in our facilities," warns Bracho. "We cannot let our guard down because persons from other countries may use Venezuela to perform terrorist activities, traffic drugs or commit other crimes."

Deficiencies in air-transport security, according to Bracho, include limited filters for staff selection of companies indirectly operating in the sector. "When subcontractors are used, control may be compromised," says Bracho, clarifying that this situation is being addressed.
 
Italians upset
An ICAO commission will visit the country early next year to make a routine inspection. Domestic organizations are devoting efforts so that inspectors do not make any irregular findings, but Venezuelan aeronautics is still a topic of debate. And the United States is not the only country posing objections to flights leaving from Venezuela: Italy still presses for answers on the airplane that disappeared on January 4th with eight citizens of that country, one Swiss passenger and five Venezuelans missing.
 
On April 18th, the Venezuelan Navy announced that a plane with the same characteristics of the Transaven flight was found in the depths of the Caribbean Sea, yet nothing further has been said since then. Giovanni Bonifacio, attorney of one of the Italian families on that plane, finds this inscrutability regrettable.
 
"My clients are furious with the Venezuelan government and Italian diplomacy," says Bonifacio. "Organization Civil Protection said that the plane had been found, but we do not believe that is true because, though 50 days have passed, no contract has been signed to obtain underwater photographs."
 
By e-mail, the representative of the Durante family added that in Italy several inconsistencies are being questioned. He finds it hard to understand how aircraft YV2081 simply disappeared into the Caribbean. "We now warn tourism agencies on a daily basis: 'Please be advised that in Los Roques and Venezuela, there are many airplane issues."
 
INAC is no longer accountable for rescue efforts; certain things remain unchanged since the day on which the plane disappeared: six months have elapsed and the radars at Maiquetía airport are still not fully operative. Ramón Viñas, who was INAC president at the time, admitted on January 28th that if the equipment purchased over two years ago had been operating at full capacity, authorities could have found traces of the plane. But that was not the case; in fact, if a similar accident were to take place today, that data would remain unavailable.
 
Simón Bolivar airport owns two radars: an old one without image-recording capacities and a new one under adaptation process because the Brazilian operating system installed is not compatible with the Canadian technology of the physical equipment.
 
This is not news to Daniel Lara. After the January 4th accident, the former INAC analyst and instructor on aeronautical law and regulations denounced this situation on his internet blog. In the meantime, changes have not been made and even less sophisticated equipment, he points out, is still missing: "The control tower's elevator has been out of service for four years."
 
16 accidents
In the first four months of the year, 16 plane accidents have been recorded. "I cannot recall so many accidents in so little time," says William Bracho from the office of the Venezuelan Chamber of Air Transportation Companies. Regardless of internal issues, answers must be provided with regards to each case. This is not just a simple demand by the Chamber; in fact, schedule 13 of the ICAO regulations requires conclusions of investigations to be published so that airline pilots and staff can make the necessary corrections.
 
Enrique Martín, president of Humboldt Rescue Organization, is not alarmed by these numbers; he assures that from January to April in 2006 and 2007, respectively, a similar number of accidents took place. Nevertheless, he admits that the 62 deaths and 13 missing passengers this year make the alarming difference. There is no precedent alike: in the first 4 months of last year, there were 11 deaths and, in the same term of 2006, there were 14 deaths.
 
Martín praises civil aviation staff. After all, plane crashes happen all over the world. Yet, in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, no correctives have been implemented to address situations that may have prevented these recent accidents. Emergency rescue helicopters with suitable equipment were not available at the time of the disappearance of the Transaven flight, and this situation remains unchanged. "They are not where they should be," adds Martín.
 
None of those Russian Kazan Mi-17 choppers were available on January 4th because they were being used in Colombia for the humanitarian mission to set free Clara Rojas y Consuelo González, who had been held hostage by FARC guerilla. To date, however, those helicopters are nowhere to be found in the airports of Barcelona, Maiquetía and Maracaibo, to which they were originally allocated. "One of those helicopters is actually out of service after damages suffered in an operation last year in Guiria, Sucre State," denounces Martín.
 
Lessons are to be learned from these mistakes, and that is the consensus among civil aviation pilots and staff. Anonymously or not, all agree that the aeronautical system has not collapsed yet. They assure that they know where they are going and that serious people are behind each flight, but room is left for mea culpa.
 
In times of foreign-currency restrictions and fleets aging 20 to 30 years, tales of mechanics and airlines rotating spare parts and pieces amongst themselves abound. Whether these stories are fact or fiction, Martín stresses that pilots are under the obligation of denouncing any defects, and many do not.
 
"I would like to see the initial report", he adds. "There is lingering fear of retaliation from airlines." The General Coordinator of the Aeronautic Instruction Raúl San José points out that "in Venezuela it is very difficult for an airline pilot to refuse flying a plane because of defects or flaws."
 
jpoliszuk@eluniversal.com

Translated by Félix Rojas