The ICAO Secretariat and EUROCONTROL have conducted an informal survey of flight inspection practices during the pandemic in twenty-seven States.
The survey results show that the majority of States surveyed are maintaining a regular or near-regular flight inspection schedule during the pandemic. This is consistent with the general recognition of ATC as an essential public service and the related need for reliable system performance of radio navigation aids. However, it should also be noted that the majority of the responses came from States that operate their own flight inspection aircraft. So the survey may not fully reflect the situation in States where issues may exist due to delays or suspended flight inspection operations, especially if they rely on cross-border flights by flight inspection providers (see below). Results from the survey have provided information on:
This section identifies special health safety procedures adopted by the majority of the States surveyed.
This section identifies special operational measures adopted by the majority of the States surveyed.
In some cases in which flight inspection services are supported by cross border flights (international flight service operations), a number of specific issues have been encountered. This section discusses how these issues have been addressed by States.
The informal survey results suggest that in principle flight inspection should be feasible even in COVID-19 times, possibly with some restrictions requiring prioritization/rearranging of schedule as discussed above. This section addresses exceptional cases where nominal periodicity cannot be maintained.
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