VZCZCXRO2526
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHGO #0192/02 0720939
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 120939Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY RANGOON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7294
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0993
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1783
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 4795
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 4545
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 8084
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 5645
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 1389
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 1458
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 0247
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 3570
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1408
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 02 OF 02 RANGOON 000192 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, INR/EAP, EEB/TRA, CA/OCS/ACS 
PACOM FOR FPA 
MONTREAL FOR ICAO REPRESENTATIVE 
TREASURY FOR OASIA, OFAC 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/21/2016 
TAGS:              
SUBJECT: AIR BAGAN SAFETY ISSUES UNCOVERED 
 
 
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* Missing Section 001 * 
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RANGOON 00000192  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
prioritize safety issues.  Additionally, the experts found 
that while Air Bagan had the proper operations manuals, the 
staff were not applying proper operations procedures during 
and before flights. 
 
--Safety - In addition to failing to report and document all 
air incidents, the experts noted that Air Bagan did not have 
a functional safety management system.  They found neither 
monitoring or oversight of corrective actions for air 
incidents nor any recommendations on how to prevent safety 
incidents.  Immediately prior to the assessment, Air Bagan 
had two safety incidents on November 3 involving two ATRs - 
one plane had propeller problems that forced the plane to 
return to Rangoon, while the other had a landing gear 
malfunction during takeoff.  Between November 3 and November 
14, Air Bagan officials did not report the incidents to the 
Civil Aviation authorities and failed to properly document 
the incident and any actions taken. 
 
--Maintenance - The experts found that Air Bagan did not have 
an approved Maintenance Organization Certificate.  According 
to Civil Aviation authorities, Air Bagan can conduct line and 
base maintenance for all ATR planes, but only line 
maintenance for the Fokker 100 and A310s.  The experts could 
not confirm that all 130 maintenance staff were qualified to 
work on these planes.  Additionally, Air Bagan staff admitted 
to the assessment team that obtaining spare parts had become 
more difficult due to sanctions. 
 
 4.  (C) The assessment team presented Air Bagan with its 
findings, and Air Bagan staff noted they were working to 
resolve many of the issues.  The Total aviation assessment 
team found no problems with Air Mandalay, Yangon Air, and 
Myanmar Airways International's operations. 
 
Embassy Recommendations 
----------------------- 
 
 5.  (C) Based on the information in Reftel, Embassy Rangoon 
submitted on March 5 to CA a revised Country Specific 
Information Sheet describing the February 19 Air Bagan crash 
and their poor safety issues.  On March 12, Post further 
revised it to recommend against flying both Air Bagan and 
state-owned Myanmar Airways due to serious concerns regarding 
the airlines' ability to maintain their airplanes.  We also 
plan to revise our country clearance information to include 
language recommending travelers not fly with Air Bagan when 
traveling to Rangoon from Bangkok. 
 
 6.  (C) In addition, we sent a diplomatic note to the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Transport on 
March 12, highlighting our concerns regarding the safety and 
government oversight of air carriers.  We requested a meeting 
with the Minister of Transport to discuss our concerns. 
VILLAROSA