MOSCOW, July 23 (RIA Novosti) - The Moscow-based Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) has called on the international community to urgently take measures ensuring safe operation of civil aviation in combat areas, the aviation authority said in statement published on its website.
“IAC calls on all States, international organizations and all international aviation community to cooperate in order to develop urgently concrete measures aimed at ensuring safe operation of civil aviation in the areas of military conflicts,” the Interstate Aviation Committee said Wednesday.
IAC also said that its official representative joined the work of the international commission on the investigation into the Malaysian plane crash. The commission was set up after the adoption of the UN Security Council resolution condemning the downing of the Malaysian Boeing 777 in eastern Ukraine. The IAC representative will participate in the reading of flight recorders in the United Kingdom.
“IAC expresses its gratitude to the President of ICAO [International Civil Aviation Organization] Council, Secretary-General of ICAO, representatives of OSCE and the States for their collaboration in such a tragic for the international community and difficult for the world aviation period and is ready, as it was in the past, to provide for the implementation of the fundamental principles of the ICAO Chicago Convention for civil aviation which must remain the safest means of transportation and communication in the world,” the Interstate Aviation Committee said in the statement.
Last Thursday, Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was downed and crashed near the city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board, including 283 passengers and 15 crew members.
The UN Security Council condemned the downing of the passenger plane and unanimously voted in support of a thorough and independent international investigation of the incident.
The 15-member council said in a resolution it "supports efforts to establish a full, thorough and independent international investigation into the incident in accordance with international civil aviation guidelines."
Ukrainian government and militia have been trading blame for the alleged downing of the airliner, with independence supporters saying they lacked the technology to shoot down a target flying at altitude of 32,000 feet.
