FAA raises safety rating for Ecuador

The FAA announced it is raising the safety rating of Ecuador to Category 1 following a reassessment of that country`s civil aviation authority. The last time the FAA fully assessed the Dirección de Aviación Civil del Ecuador (DGAC) was in 1995, with subsequent technical visits from 1997 to 2002. The country`s civil aviation authority has shown increasing improvements since the FAA began providing technical assistance in 2002. A Category 1 rating means that the civil aviation authority of Ecuador has been assessed by FAA inspectors and has been found to license and oversee air carriers in accordance with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) aviation safety standards. Ecuador has been in Category 2 since the 1995 assessment.

FAA press release No. AOC 12-06