UNITED NATIONS NATIONS UNIES
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DE LA SANTÉ
A3-4/SF/64 30 April 1951
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
DR'.FT INTERNATIONAL SANITARY REGULATIONS ARTICLE 39A
Comments and suggestions from the Representative of ICAO Dr. de Tavel, Medical Adviser to ICAO
1. Article 39A directs the pilot in command of an aircraft notifying the
nearest local health authority of his landing at a non-designated airport. It may be suggested that since the present Regulations are being generally drafted for the Health Authorities, which may request 'the Civil Aviation Authorities of a State to include such provisions into their civil aviation regulations, the first sentence of the Article may be improved.
2. The new Article was indicated to give provisions similar to those in Article 25 of the 19ЗЗ/44 International Convention for Aerial Navigation. Article 25 referred to "aircraft coming from infected local areas or which is itself infected" whereas no similar limitation has been made in the new Article 39A, which therefore would apply in any case of a landing at non-designated airports.
Notifying the nearest local Hèalth Authority of any such landing may cause considerable difficulties to the pilot in finding the nearest 1л>са1 Health Authority particularly at night or on Sundays and for overcoming language problems, etc. This requirement does not appear fully justified where no epidemic danger exists such as in traffic between US and Canada cr between Western European States under normal conditions. The pilot in command is himself fully aware whether he comes from an infected local area where sanitary measures have been applied on departure and whether any incidents of epidemic significance had to be entered into the health part of the General Deolaration.
The local Health Authority on the other hand may not have recent international epidemic information readily available.
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The pilot in command, according to Annex A of the 1 9 ^ Convention on International Civil Aviation, is obliged under existing regulations to report any landing elsevhere than at international airports as soon as practicable to the public authorities ooncerned. It would therefore appear to be more
satisfactory if health authorities could make adequate arrangements with civil aviation departments of the State concerned in order to receive immediate notification of any landing of an aircraft on an international flight at non- designated airports. The pilot in command may be requested to indicate to
the local authority any condition of significance for the spread of quarantinable disease.
It may be preferable therefore to rearrange 39A as amended by the Drafting Sub-Committee in the following way;
1. Eeplace the last part of 1. from "the pilot in eommand" to "health authority" by the text of 3.
2. Beplaoe in ^ ''haolth authority'' at the end of the first line by "public authorities concerned".
Article 39A
(as proposed by ICAO representative)
1. If, for reasons beyond the control of the pilot in command, an aircraft lands elsewhere than at an airport, or at an airport other than the airport at which the aircraft was due to land, the health authority shall take such action as is appropriate but in no ease shall it exceed the measures permitted by these Regulations.
2. The pilot in command may take such emergency measures as may be necessary for the health and safety of passengers and crew,
3. Except for the purpose of' communicating with the public authorities conoerned or with the permisaion of the health authority, no person on board the aircraft shall leave its vicinity and no cargo shall be removed from that vicinity, k. When the reasons for the landing no longer exist, the aircraft may proceed either to the airport at -which it was due to land, or, if for teehnical reasons it cannot do so, to a conveniently situated airport.
