GCAA and Civil Defence sign MoU for cooperation to enhance safety in the civil aviation sector

On 6 February 2011, the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Dubai Civil Defence concerning mutual cooperation between the two parties in the fields of training and sharing information, experiences and logistic support so as to enable them to achieve their strategic goal of enhancing safety in the civil aviation sector.

The agreement was signed by H.E. Saif Mohammad Al Suwaidi, Director General of GCAA and H.E. Major General Rashed Thani Al Matroushi, Director General of Dubai Civil Defence, in the presence of a number of officials from both parties.

The agreement provides that, in terms of training, each party will offer training courses in its field of work to the other party; the Dubai Civil Defence will offer training courses in the fields of preventive safety, fire fighting and others, which could benefit the GCAA in its work; the GCAA will offer training courses in the field of aircraft incidents and other fields related to its work.

In terms of sharing information and experiences, the two parties will share relevant information and experiences and will conduct joint training. As for logistic support, the Dubai Civil Defence agreed to allocate a suitable place in one of its centers to be properly equipped by the GCAA and used by it as a crisis management center. The agreement also allows the GCAA to use the equipments, vehicles and mobile operation centers of the Dubai Civil Defence in the case of aircraft accidents and to train its staff on dealing with such incidents.

“Enhancing safety levels in the civil aviation sector is one of the priorities of the GCAA, because this is closely related to the safety and security of people working in this sector and customers using its services. This agreement with the Dubai Civil Defence illustrates this trend and highlights our focus on this area. It will allow both parties to work together in terms of training and sharing information, experiences and logistic support, which will contribute to enhancing safety levels in the civil aviation sector.” Saif Mohammad Al Suwaidi said.