Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Following news of the crash of the Germanwings airliner in the French Alps many people have said to be nervous about air travel.

For all those who already feel nervous about flying, this catastrophe has only made things worse, shaking their faith in airlines' ability to ensure passengers safety.

“The issues related to ensuring civil aircraft safety and the pilots’ health are always the focus of particular attention in Azerbaijan,” said Maharram Safarli, the head of the press service of Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL).

He told Trend on March 29 that the overall control in this area is carried out by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

Safarli noted the company is following international standards and all requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) regarding the selection of pilots.

“In Azerbaijan, the selection of all future pilots is carried out taking into account individuals' abilities, health status and other factors during their enrolment to the National Aviation Academy,” he said. "Therefore the recent accident that took place in Europe, in the Alps can't be a criterion for us."

Azerbaijani citizens up to 23 years old, having passed a special medical examination at the medical-flight expert commission of the Heydar Aliyev International Airport’s aviation clinics can be recruited for the positions of pilot-engineer and dispatcher at the Azerbaijan National Academy of Aviation, according to Safarli.

"In the future, the psycho-physiological and physical condition of students will remain under constant supervision,” he said. “The new rules are worked out in this area in accordance with international standards to be applied at the Academy from the next academic year."

He added that in order to control the changes that can take place in the psychological state and health of pilots in general, they undergo regular medical check-up.

The medical-flight expert commission tightly controls these issues and pilots undergo a medical check-up on a mandatory basis before each flight, he said.

Safarli added that there were cases when the commission prohibited experienced pilots from carrying out flights if even minor problems were revealed in their heath.


“Audit commissions of ICAO and European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) have always been very pleased and positively assessed our work related to pilots,” Safarli said, adding that there haven’t been any negative assessments to date.”

Azerbaijan Airlines is the country's biggest airline and national flag carrier. As a regional and CIS leader in terms of its number of new aircrafts, AZAL offers its passenger flights to European countries, the CIS, Middle East, Asia and the United States.

Currently, AZAL's fleet consists of Boeing B-787-8, Boeing 757-200, Boeing 767-300, Airbus 319, Airbus A320, Airbus A340-500, Embraer ERJ 170-100LR and Embraer ERJ 190-100. The company cooperates with about 60 airlines to provide its passengers with an opportunity to travel leisurely around the world.

--

Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz