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C-MIN 137/15
recordings might give more precise information about what the aircraft was doing when it was attacked; however, it was, in his opinion, unlikely to add very much to existing knowledge as to the reasons why the aircraft diverged from its planned flight path. While advocating urgent action to set in hand the analysis of the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and digital flight data recorder (DFDR) tapes, he agreed with the Representative of Canada that the analysis itself-which was a painstaking and deliberative process-could not be hurried.
7. The Representative of Australia wished to be associated with those speakers who had supported ICAO's involvement in this issue. His Government had been pleased to note the joint resolution which had followed the meeting of Representatives of the four Governments in Moscow recently, and, in particular, the spirit of co-operation which now existed. The resolution was notable for the fact that it recognized ICAO as an unbiased, internationally respected organization. With the accolades came a responsibility, and the Representative of Australia believed it was part of ICAO's responsibility to gather what new technical information might be available and complete its investigation, while bearing in mind the note of caution expressed by the Representative of the United Kingdom as to what could be expected from such an investigation. The Representative of India also welcomed the initiative shown by the four Governments in the interest of bringing the investigation which had been undertaken by the Secretary General to a satisfactory conclusion, albeit belatedly. He recalled that this tragedy had led to the Protocol incorporating Article 3 bis into the Chicago Convention, but that this amendment had yet to come into force. His Delegation therefore called upon the world community to hasten to ratify this Protocol.
8. In recalling another tragic incident which had taken place on 19 September 1989, when UTA Flight No. 772, linking Brazzaville to Paris, had exploded over the Tenerife Desert, taking the lives of a number of Cameroon families, the Representative of Cameroon emphasized his State's interest in all matters involving the safety of civil aviation and gave assurances that Cameroon would spare no effort to encourage work in this field. ICAO, a universal organization whose origins dated back to the 1940s, had, since its inception, been assigned a supreme task; that of establishing standards which were recognized and applicable internationally. The tools needed to carry out this task were to be found in the provisions of the Chicago Convention, and in this instance, Articles 54(n), 47 and 26 were of particular relevance. Should the request now under consideration be agreed to, and ICAO be retained as the body to complete this investigation, the Representative of Cameroon wondered whether the Organization should not, as it had in the past, appeal to States to pronounce themselves on the amendment to Article 3 bis of the Convention, adopted by the 25th Session (Extraordinary) of the Assembly on 10 May 1984.
9.
The Representative of Germany also supported the request to complete the investigation in light of the new evidence which was now available. His Delegation was in favour of doing this as quickly as possible, in view of the time which had elapsed since the incident and the need for ICAO, as well as the civil aviation industry and the general public to know what had in fact happened, so far as this could be reconstructed on the basis of the newly available evidence. In this context, the Representative of Germany considered that the Council action proposed in C-WP/9685 should be strengthened in terms of the instructions to be given to the Secretary General. The request of the four Governments was further supported by the Representative of Trinidad and Tobago, who recalled an intervention which had been made by the Representative of Japan-following completion of the Council's action on the final report on the investigation-regarding the need for further efforts. The Organization was now in a position where some further evidence was available, and that it was
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