Air routes still dangerous after MH17

By Janene Pieters on October 26, 2015 - 10:07
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Dutch Safety Board's final report presentation on MH17 investigation (Photo: NL Times/Zachary Newmark). (Dutch Safety Board's final report presentation on MH17 investigation (Photo: NL Times/Zachary Newmark))

Fifteen months after the disaster with flight MH17, there is still a very solid chance of another airplane crash over a war zone. The European watchdog EASA will therefore present strict rules for safe routes next year, at the insistence of the Netherlands.

Sources within the aviation industry said this to the Telegraaf, the newspaper reported on Sunday.

With these rules EASA, the European Aviation Safety Agency, wants to better map the risks of flying over conflict areas and improve the manner in which this information is shared with other countries.

The rules will be presented in March next year, according to the newspaper. The Netherlands wants to present this approach during its time as chairman of the European Union, from January to July 2016.

According to the Telegraaf's sources, the measures taken after the MH17 disaster, are a sham. "the public website to share information is totally not working. The discussions in industry association IATA's taskforce are producing very little."

Earlier this month the Dutch Safety Board presented its report on the MH17 disaster. One of the Board's conclusions was that the airspace above the Ukraine should have been closed to passenger aircraft.

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