Alexandria, VA, March 2, 2011 — The Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) announced today at its 23rd annual European Aviation Safety Seminar (EASS) that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the World Food Programme (WFP), the world’s largest humanitarian agency, to formalize an important partnership between the two organizations. Moving forward, FSF will work with WFP on improving the safety level of its humanitarian flight operations.
“As one of the leading aviation safety groups, we are thrilled to be able to work with the WFP-operated United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS),” commented William R. Voss, President and CEO of FSF. “WFP works under desperate conditions to help people at the most tragic times of their lives to deliver life-saving food and other assistance. This often includes flying into some of the riskiest conditions imaginable. It’s a privilege to be a part of this effort.”
The Flight Safety Foundation will provide many levels of support, including on-site safety workshops, consulting on safety-related projects, support of safety initiatives and customized training, and access to FSF toolkits and a membership in the Basic Aviation Risk Reduction Standards (BARS). FSF also hopes to offer volunteer opportunities for its members and seminar attendees to further assist the aviation division of WFP.
“WFP looks forward to drawing on the expertise and state-of-the art training programmes the Flight Safety Foundation can provide,” said Pierre Carrasse, Chief, WFP Aviation. “Delivering food to hungry people can pose immense challenges and the safety of crews and humanitarian workers is paramount.”
In 2003, WFP was given responsibility for providing safe, reliable and cost-efficient air transport for all UN agencies and other aid groups involved in relief operations. This led to the founding of the UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS). Working on behalf of the humanitarian community, UNHAS operated 49,046 hours in 2010, transporting more than 350,000 passengers and 14,833 metric tons of cargo globally.
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Flight Safety Foundation is an independent, non-profit, international organization engaged in research, auditing, education, advocacy and publishing to improve aviation safety. The Foundation’s mission is to pursue the continuous improvement of global aviation safety and the prevention of accidents. The Foundation is an official observer of the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization. Follow FSF on Twitter @flightsafety or at facebook.com/flightsafetyfoundation.
WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. Each year, on average, WFP feeds more than 90 million people in more than 70 countries. www.wfp.org
Contact: Emily McGee, Director of Communications, 1-703-739-6700, ext. 126; mcgee@webdeva.flightsafety.org
