International aviation rules need to be changed in order to end military flights without transponders – Urmas Paet in European Parliament

International aviation rules have to be changed in order to end dangerous military flights without transponders in European airspace. European Union has to show initiative, Urmas Paet said in his speech in European Parliament plenary session in Brussels.

European Parliament could come out with an initiative to change the International Convention and other regulations, in order to oblige military planes to fly with transponders switched on, especially in areas of heavy civil planes’ traffic.

“In recent months there have been several dangerous incidents where so called invisible Russian military plane has got dangerously close to a civil plane. Immediate action must be taken before anything fatal happens,” he added.

Paet said that in last December European Commission tabled a request to European Aviation Safety Agency concerning frequent incidents between civil planes and military planes that fly without transponders. “We need to step forward and initiate a change of international aviation rules,” Paet said in European Parliament plenary session.

Additional information:
urmas.paet@europarl.europa.eu
www.urmaspaet.eu