FSF IN ROME TO PRESENT THE 63° IASS

Last week the Flight Safety Foundation had several busy days in Rome….conferences, high profile meetings, TV interviews, and promotion of the 63rd IASS, to be held in Milan later this year, were all on the agenda for Bill Voss and Susan Lausch.

Thanks to Paolo Pettinaroli, President of the Fondazione 8 Ottobre 2001 for the many meetings and important introductions that took place last week. Voss met with the Chief of Staff of Defense, Air Force General, Vincenzo Camporini, as well as well as with the President of the Transport Committee of the Italian Government, Dr.  Mario Vannucci. Discussions revolved around issues of safety, future collaborations and official patronage from the Italian Government, for the FSF 63rd IASS, to be held in Milan in November 2010.

A visit to the Fiumicino Airport and a demonstration of airport safety operations and practices was followed by a visit to the “Largo Liante 8 Ottobre 2001” a memorial dedicated to the victims of the October 8, 2001 airplane crash, the largest in Italy’s history.

Voss gave a presentation at the GATE XXI conference that was attended by very important aviation officials including the Chief of Staff of Defense. The 63rd IASS meeting received a great deal of promotion and later Voss was interviewed by AvioNews.
Voss and Lausch also had a very productive meeting with the World Food Programme (WFP) including staff of their aviation safety unit, private partnerships and legal departments, in order to pursue a formal contribution agreement between World Food Programme and Flight Safety Foundation.

FSF would work very closely with WFP’s aviation safety unit to work on safety standards, improving operations, gathering expertise from around the world so that WFP can continue its important humanitarian efforts of getting food and relief to some of the most dangerous parts of the world. (Some of the folks we were to meet with were unable to join us because they had to fly out to assist with the Haitian efforts.) FSF would be recognized as a partner of this branch of the United Nations, further expanding the brand, and keeping in line with the mission of saving lives. Other collaborations including joint fundraising efforts would follow.

For more information on the WFP efforts, please email lausch@flightsafety.org.