Observatory's Staff Interviewed by China Meteorological News

18 June 2009

Assistant Director of the Hong Kong Observatory Mr CM Shun was interviewed on 10 June by the China Meteorological News on the topic of "Meteorology and Aviation Safety" and the interview dialogue has been released on the homepage of the China Meteorological Administration (http://www.cma.gov.cn/). This is the first time an Observatory's staff was interviewed by the China Meteorological News on the subject of aviation meteorology.

The most serious aircraft accident in recent years happened shortly before the interview - a passenger aircraft of Air France scheduled to fly from Brazil to France on 1 June lost contact with the ground over the Atlantic Ocean. It is believed that the 216 passengers and 12 crew members onboard the aircraft had lost their lives. This tragedy attracted general concerns by the public on aviation safety. Against this background, the interview focuses on the importance of weather services to aviation safety. The content of the interview includes: weather conditions which may affect aviation, differences between public weather forecast and aviation weather forecast, and the method, accuracy and challenges of aviation weather forecasting.

The interview dialogue is available on the webpage of the China Meteorological Administration (only in Chinese):http://www.cma.gov.cn/live/200906/t20090615_36257.html

Homepage of the China Meteorological Administration
(http://www.cma.gov.cn/)