THE SHAMELESS WAY in which the International Civil Aviation Organisation
puts American interests before technical interests was well illus- trated when the United Kingdom delegate had to withdraw the proposal that the short-range navi- gation system known as Decca should be recom- mended for standardisation. The Americans have sunk a great deal of capital in the VOR-DMET system, yet it is recognised by nearly all pilots and technical men with experience of both systems that the Decca navigator, with its simple pictorial presentation of the aircraft's position, is greatly superior. In fact the French institute of transport has said that it is the only system that could cope with the high densities of jet traffic to be expected in the future. So in ICAO as in IATA (the International Air Transport Associa- tion) American pressure is determining the tech- nical future of the world's airlines, and these two bodies arc rapidly becoming a serious obstacle to a full realisation of the engineering possibili- ties. I find it ironical that the British taxpayer should be contributing to ICAO. Last year the
estimated amount of the direct contribution, apart from the many associated costs, was L114,000.
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