Papua New Guinea's Accident Investigation Commission has improved its staffing gender balance with a boost in female representation.
Papua New Guinea's Accident Investigation Commission staff. Photo: PNG AIC
The investigation division of the Commission, which deals with aviation accidents and incidents, now has four women out of a total of 10 Papua New Guinean staff.
The Commission's chief executive Hubert Namani attributed the new 40 percent female representation to merit-based selection processes.
"During the last 12 months, the AIC has sought to recruit skilled Papua New Guinean nationals with the right qualifications, experience and attitude and level of integrity into the AIC investigation team."
The AIC welcomed an investigation support officer and a group of new investigators in the aviation professions of Flight Operations (Pilots), Aircraft Maintenance Engineering, Instrumentation and Electronics and Flight Recorders, Cabin Safety, Safety Management Systems and Human Factors.
"These highly educated aviation professionals have embraced their new discipline of aircraft accident and serious incident investigation and support and have excelled in their training courses," Mr Namani said.
PNG could be assured that the board and management of the AIC were committed to ensuring all AIC investigators and support staff were able to meet the AIC's international obligations and its legislated mandate, he said.
At a time of fiscal restraint, he said the commission was grateful for the government's support to resource training of its investigators.