Flying in Latin America riskier than most other regions
     CARACAS, Venezuela (July 26, 1997 2:33 p.m. EDT) -- The Boeing
 727 was approaching Simon Bolivar International Airport near the end
 of a routine flight when a blip appeared on the radar screen.
     To veteran pilot Rafael De Lima, ferrying 140 passengers on the
 Viasa flight from Bogota, Colombia, it was not especially alarming.
 But as he cut through the afternoon skies at about eight miles a
 minute, he radioed the airport control tower to inquire.
     There was no response. Then a warning gauge on the cockpit in-
 strument panel flashed, and an alarm sounded.  A collision was
 imminent.
     "Climb immediately! Climb immediately!" a taped message ordered
 the pilot.
     De Lima swerved up and to the left, the standard evasion maneu-
 ver. As he did, he saw an Air France Airbus rising from takeoff
 straight at him.
     It was so close that he saw the face of the Air France pilot,
 who pitched his own plane into a dive.
     "Four more seconds and we were all dead," said the 51-year-old
 captain. "If I had done nothing, his plane would have split mine in
 two."
     Incidents like the near-miss on March 8, 1996, are rare anywhere
 in the world. But flying in Latin America remains more dangerous
 statistically than in North America, Asia or Europe. And De Lima,
 whose airline has since gone out of business, says near-accidents
 are not as rare as passengers may believe.
     Much of the continent is mountainous, including the areas around
 the airports for many capitals and other major cities.  Aviation
 officials acknowledge a history of shortcomings in aircraft mainten-
 ance and airport facilities. Last year, a half dozen commercial jets
 crashed in Latin America.
     Partly in response to scrutiny by the U.S. Federal Aviation
 Administration, which found safety oversight lacking in most of the
 region's countries, many improvements are now under way.
     De Lima blamed his near-miss on inexperienced, overworked mili-
 tary air traffic controllers who had recently taken over in Caracas
 for civilians in a labor dispute.
     Less lucky were the passengers on an Aeroperu flight last Oc-
 tober, when ground crews cleaning the aircraft failed to remove
 adhesive tape that had been placed over its altitude sensors.
 Because of that oversight, the Boeing 757 plunged into the Pacific
 Ocean while groping blindly, in dense fog at midnight, for a way
 back to the airport. All 70 on board died.
     A Flight Safety Foundation study found that Latin America had
 the world's highest rate of crashes during attempted landings. The
 32 accidents per million flights -- by planes of all types from 1984
 through 1993 -- is three times the world average and nearly eight
 times the U.S. average.
     According to a Boeing Corp. study covering 1986-96, large com-
 mercial jet crashes in Latin America happen at an average of 4.5 per
 million flights -- three times the world average and nine times the
 U.S. average.
     The FAA focused on Latin America and the Caribbean in its com-
 pliance program, which examines whether countries are meeting inter-
 national standards for overseeing air safety. It gives three possi-
 ble ratings: a satisfactory Category 1, a conditional Category 2
 and an unsatisfactory Category 3.  Airlines based in Category 3
 countries generally are barred from flying to the United States.
     In the latest FAA list, only 13 of the 30 rated countries in the
 region -- or 43 percent -- earned a place in Category 1. By compar-
 ison, 93 percent of European countries and 69 percent of Asian
 countries were rated Category 1. Only Africa fared worse than Latin
 America, with just two of the eight African countries studied
 earning the top rating.
     The FAA looks at how a country's aviation safety agency monitors
 the training and qualifications of pilots, ground crew, mechanics
 and other airline personnel.  The agencies also must ensure that
 manuals, charts and records at airlines are up-to-date.
     The FAA doesn't disclose specifically why it rates a country
 poorly, and the affected governments aren't eager to do so. But a
 country's response to a less than satisfactory rating sometimes
 indicates where problems may lie.
     After being rated Category 2, Venezuela repaved the main runway
 at Simon Bolivar airport for the first time in 22 years. Civilians
 are returning to air traffic control towers, and the country's main
 aviation law is being updated. Venezuela has grounded all flights
 by one airline, Zuliana de Aviacion, for lack of compliance with
 maintenance and safety procedures.
     Colombia, also in Category 2, improved its national system of
 radar beacons. Bolivia just finished a $43 million renovation of
 John F. Kennedy airport at La Paz and turned management over to a
 U.S. aviation services company, Airport Group International Inc.
     The FAA program has fostered resentment in the region. Some
 critics contend the United States is using it as leverage to earn
 more business for American carriers and to sell more U.S.-made
 planes.
     But many officials concede it has forced their countries to pay
 badly needed attention to air safety.
     "No one these days, when we meet among ourselves, would contest
 the program," said Henry Lord Boulton, who is president of the
 Venezuelan airlines Servivensa and Avensa and head of the five-
 nation Andean Airline Association. "We admit we've been lax, in-
 efficient, immature."
     Abel Enrique Jimenez, director of Colombia's civil aviation
 agency, acknowledged his country, like others, for years ignored
 FAA pleas to uphold international norms for aviation safety.
 See Part 2 of NEWS-621.
--- DB 1.39/004487
---------------