June 28, 2021 – The Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Angola has contracted with The Wicks Group (TWG) for comprehensive technical assistance services directed at improving Angola’s compliance with international aviation safety oversight and monitoring standards. The overall goal of the project is to enable Angola to achieve a Category 1 rating under the US FAA International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) program.
The new "IASA Phase 2 Technical Assistance" project continues an aviation safety improvement initiative aimed at enabling a direct air link between Angola and the US within the near future. An FAA IASA Category 1 rating for the government of the Republic of Angola is required for TAAG Angola Airlines (TAAG-SA) to begin direct flights between Angola and the United States. Another aspect of the initiative is the planned transition of INAVIC’s responsibilities to an independent civil aviation authority, ANAC, expected to be completed in the coming weeks.
In a predecessor “IASA Phase 1 Baseline Assessment” project, TWG evaluated INAVIC’s compliance with the international aviation safety standards established by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and provided INAVIC with a report of findings and recommendations. TWG also updated many parts of Angola’s civil aviation regulations as part of the earlier project. The new project focuses on enabling and assisting INAVIC with implementing the corrective actions and improvements recommended to resolve compliance gaps identified from the Baseline Assessment.
TWG’s scope of services for the new project includes drafting additional regulatory revisions, developing more comprehensive aviation safety inspector procedures and related industry guidance materials, providing specialized training for aviation safety inspectors; assisting with strengthening operator certification and authorization procedures and records; and helping Angola ensure that its aviation safety surveillance and safety problem resolution practices meet international standards. For the initial phase of work, TWG will be providing services remotely from the US using virtual meeting and other technology tools. In the later project phases, a TWG team of expert aviation safety technical consultants and other personnel will also support corrective action implementation through periodic work trips to Angola.
Established in 1999 and based in Washington, DC, The Wicks Group has a 100% record of success in providing FAA Category 1 technical assistance to civil aviation authorities (CAAs) worldwide, including the CAAs of India, Panama, Cabo Verde, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, and Trinidad and Tobago. In all, ten Category 1 ratings have been issued to TWG IASA technical assistance clients to date. TWG also regularly assists foreign air carriers with obtaining the US government approvals needed for US air carrier operations and foreign repair stations with securing FAA certification required to maintain US-registered aircraft.
For more information about The Wicks Group, please contact Glenn Wicks at gpwicks@wicks-group.com.