VZCZCXRO7889
OO RUEHBI RUEHLMC
DE RUEHLM #0923/01 1790446
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 280446Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6365
INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 1146
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 0244
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 7227
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 5332
RUEHMT/AMCONSUL MONTREAL 0116
RUEHKP/AMCONSUL KARACHI 2211
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI 7815
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 5471
RHMFIUU/FAA NATIONAL HQ WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2167
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 000923 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EB/TRA, IO/T, SCA/INS 
FAA FOR JIM FILIPPATOS, DI REIMOLD, CARL BURLESON 
MCC FOR S GROFF, D TETER, D NASSIRY AND E BURKE 
TREASURY FOR LESLIE HULL, AMIT SHARMA, AND JULIA PHILIPP 
TSA FOR JILLENE MACCREERY 
 
SIPDIS 
US MISSION TO ICAO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAIR ECON ETRD SENV CE
SUBJECT: ICAO ASSEMBLY: SRI LANKA SUPPORT OF U.S. POSITIONS 
ON AVIATION SAFETY AND SECURITY 
 
REF: SECSTATE 77572 
 
¶1.  (U) SUMMARY: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of Sri 
Lanka generally supports all the U.S. positions on aviation 
safety and security for presentation at the upcoming 
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Assembly. 
The Director General of the CAA, however, wanted more 
information on the Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program 
and the Aviation Security Point of Contact Network, and 
argued against the need for more regional safety oversight 
organizations.  Overall, the Director General is pleased to 
work with post on ICAO matters, especially as Sri Lanka is 
scheduled to undergo an ICAO security audit in November 2008. 
 End summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) On June 21, the Director General of the Civil 
Aviation Authority (CAA) of Sri Lanka, Parakrama Dissanayake, 
told Econoff that he generally supported reftel U.S. 
positions on aviation safety and security to be presented at 
the upcoming International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) 
Assembly.  Details of his comments are noted below under 
their respective topics.  Dissanayake said that Sri Lanka was 
subject to an ICAO security audit in 2006 and will undergo a 
systems audit in November 2008.  He described the 
relationship between Sri Lanka and ICAO as generally good, 
adding that there were no unresolved issues between the two 
parties.  He was unsure, however, whether Sri Lanka will 
participate in the ICAO Assembly this year, citing lack of 
available personnel. 
 
--------------- 
Aviation Safety 
--------------- 
 
Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U) Dissanayake noted that the results of Sri Lanka's 
2006 audit (per Annex 17 of the Chicago Convention) resulted 
in few concerns and that Sri Lanka has since rectified three 
or four of the total six/seven recommendations made.  He 
perceived the safety risk analysis as a proactive process to 
manage safety.  He highlighted Sri Lanka's Airlines Flight 
Data Analysis Program which applies the same concept as the 
proposed safety risk analysis.  He queried whether the ICAO 
or the individual states will incorporate the program and 
monitor the data. 
 
Safety Enhancement 
------------------- 
 
¶4.  (U) Dissanayake supported the establishment of an 
Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing (ASIAS) 
system but wanted more information on its focal point, 
accessibility, authority, and format.  He stressed that it 
should be user-friendly and that the information be limited 
to avoid duplication from other information-sharing systems 
already in place.  Regarding the adoption of the Commercial 
Aviation Safety Team (CAST) taxonomy to report aviation 
accident and incident data, Dissanayake preferred to continue 
using ICAO and local phraseology rather than learning a new 
set of terminology and abbreviations. 
 
Technical Assistance 
-------------------- 
 
¶5.  (U) Dissanayake supported the role of regional 
organizations to provide safety oversight.  He did not, 
however, support the need for more organizations as they 
would duplicate already existing organizations which would 
result in an overlap of objectives and reporting.  He also 
queried whether other countries could gain access to 
information from other regional oversight organizations. 
 
COLOMBO 00000923  002 OF 003 
 
 
Dissanayake was also concerned that additional organizations 
would take away the funds from existing organizations that 
depend on loans and grants from private and public donors. 
He highlighted the World Bank and asked how committed it was 
to financially support the aviation industry as it was not a 
humanitarian program, and whether the World Bank would 
continue to fund existing programs while financing new ones. 
 Dissanayake discussed how the Cooperative Development of 
Operational Safety and Continuing Airworthiness Program 
(COSCAP) for the South Asian Association for Regional 
Cooperation (SAARC) countries already played the role of the 
regional safety oversight authority and noted that it was 
annually losing funding from donors. 
 
Air Navigation Systems 
---------------------- 
 
¶6.  (U) Dissanayake expressed appreciation for the U.S. 
commitment to providing Global Positioning System (GPS) - 
Standard Positioning Service (SPS) signals, and Wide Area 
Augmentation System (WAAS) signals.  He noted that Europe, 
India and Japan are also developing their own air navigation 
systems. 
 
------------ 
Air Security 
------------ 
 
Universal Security Audit Program 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (U) Dissanayake wanted details on how ICAO's Coordinated 
Assistance and Development Branch (CAD) would help States 
raise their level of aviation security compliance, and 
whether it might include funding, provision of expertise or 
other types of material support.  Regarding the Aviation 
Security Point of Contact Network, he was not aware of this 
program and wanted more information on it and asked whether 
Sri Lanka can gain controlled access of it.  Lastly, 
Dissanayake argued against the U.S. position that limited 
resources do not prohibit development.  He contended that 
lack of resources constrain and prevent states from getting 
more expensive equipment, as well as recruiting, training and 
retaining skilled people. 
 
Unmanned Aircraft Systems 
------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (U) Dissanayake agreed with the proposal and offered no 
additional comment. 
 
Halon Replacement 
----------------- 
 
¶9.  (U) Dissanayake wanted to know what the grace period was, 
in relation to desired expiration date, for aircraft with 
already-installed halon systems to terminate and replace 
their halons. 
 
¶10. (SBU) COMMENT:  Dissanayake has served as the Director 
General of the CAA since May 2007, and informed Econoff that 
he will be in office for two more years.  He has been 
involved in the national aviation industry for over 17 years, 
including service as an air traffic controller and supervisor 
at the Bandaranaike International Airport; Director of Air 
Traffic for Air Drones; Director General of Air Drones and 
Air Navigation Services; and Director of Aero-Nautical 
Services and Aviation Security.  Very familiar with the ICAO 
and Sri Lanka's participation with the organization, 
Dissanayake was meticulous in going over the U.S. positions 
with Econoff, which he generally supported except for a few 
points in which he wanted additional details and 
clarification. 
 
COLOMBO 00000923  003 OF 003 
 
 
BLAKE