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Mr van Dam noted that the State of Registry was responsible for the certification and continuing airworthiness of civil aircraft while the State of the Operator was responsible for the operational certification. In this case, both were Indonesia.
He pointed out that a number of provisions under the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago 1944) (Chicago Convention) were intended to facilitate the development of an international air transportation system, by obviating the need for States to investigate or challenge the airworthiness of each other's aircraft and the competence of the operators.
"Article 33 (Recognition of Certificates and Licences) provides that the contracting States shall 'recognise as valid' certificates of airworthiness and licences issued or validated by the contracting State where the aircraft is registered, 'provided that the requirements under which such certificates or licences were issued or rendered valid are equal to or above the minimum standards which may be established from time to time pursuant to this Convention'.
"The Indonesian authorities have notified ICAO that no differences exist between their national regulations and the practices and the International Standards of Annex 8 (Airworthiness)," Mr van Dam said.
On the issue of charter permits, he said in accordance with ICAO practice, it was not the function of the State that issued the permit to assume any responsibilities or obligations in relation to the certification of the aircraft or the operator.
"Under the system of the Chicago Convention, those functions are the exclusive responsibility of the State where the aircraft are registered and the State that has issued the Air Operator Certificate or equivalent documentation," he said.
"It may therefore be concluded that in the circumstances, the Hong Kong authorities acted in accordance with the applicable international regulation in considering the applications by Pelita Air Service to operate non-scheduled flights from Hong Kong," he said.
On accident investigations, Mr Smart, whose Department is providing technical expertise and assistance to the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department in investigating the Hercules incident, said the purpose of such investigations was to determine the cause or causes of an accident with a view to preventing a recurrence but not to apportion blame or liability.