General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other purposes. However, for statistical purposes, ICAO uses a definition of general aviation which includes aerial work.
The International Civil Aviation Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth. The ICAO headquarters are located in the Quartier international de Montréal of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
The International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet or simply Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet, commonly known as the NATO phonetic alphabet, is the most widely used set of clear-code words for communicating the letters of the Roman alphabet. Technically a radiotelephonic spelling alphabet, it goes by various names, including NATO spelling alphabet, ICAO phonetic alphabet and ICAO spelling alphabet. The ITU phonetic alphabet and figure code is a rarely used variant that differs in the code words for digits.
Korean Air Lines Flight 007 (KE007/KAL007) was a scheduled Korean Air Lines flight from New York City to Seoul via Anchorage, Alaska. On September 1, 1983, the flight was shot down by a Soviet Sukhoi Su-15 interceptor aircraft. The Boeing 747 airliner was en route from Anchorage to Seoul, but owing to a navigational mistake made by the crew, the airliner drifted from its planned route and flew through Soviet prohibited airspace. The Soviet Air Forces treated the unidentified aircraft as an intruding U.S. spy plane, and destroyed it with air-to-air missiles, after firing warning shots. The Korean airliner eventually crashed into the sea near Moneron Island west of Sakhalin in the Sea of Japan, killing all 269 passengers and crew aboard, including Larry McDonald, a United States representative. The Soviet Union found the wreckage under the sea two weeks later on September 15 and found the flight recorders in October, but this information was kept secret by the Soviet authorities until 1992, after the country's dissolution.
The United States order of precedence is an advisory document maintained by the Ceremonials Division of the Office of the Chief of Protocol of the United States which lists the ceremonial order, or relative preeminence, for domestic and foreign government officials at diplomatic, ceremonial, and social events within the United States and abroad. The list is used to mitigate miscommunication and embarrassment in diplomacy, and offer a distinct and concrete spectrum of preeminence for ceremonies. Often the document is used to advise diplomatic and ceremonial event planners on seating charts and order of introduction. Former presidents, vice presidents, first ladies, second ladies, and secretaries of state and retired Supreme Court justices are also included in the list.
Michele Jeanne Sison is an American diplomat and career member of the Senior Foreign Service serving as the assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs. She has previously served in various other diplomatic posts around the world on behalf of the United States, including ambassador to Haiti. Sison holds the personal rank of career ambassador.
The International Aviation Safety Assessment Program is a program established by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 1992. The program is designed to evaluate the ability of a country's civil aviation authority or other regulatory body to adhere to international aviation safety standards and recommended practices for personnel licensing, aircraft operations and aircraft airworthiness.
Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger III is an American retired fighter pilot, diplomat, and airline pilot. He is best known for his actions as captain of US Airways Flight 1549 on January 15, 2009, when he ditched the plane, landing on the Hudson River after both engines were disabled by a bird strike. All 155 people aboard survived. After the Hudson landing, Sullenberger became an outspoken advocate for aviation safety and helped develop new protocols for flight safety. He served as the co-chairman, along with his co-pilot on Flight 1549, Jeffrey Skiles, of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA)'s Young Eagles youth introduction-to-aviation program from 2009 to 2013.
Richard Merrill Mills Jr. is an American diplomat serving as the United States ambassador to Nigeria since July 2024. He served as the United States deputy ambassador to the United Nations from 2020 to 2024 and, in that capacity, served as the U.S. Chargé d'Affaires and Acting Permanent Representative to the United Nations between January 20, 2021, and February 24, 2021, when Linda Thomas-Greenfield became ambassador.
The permanent representative of Australia to the International Civil Aviation Organization is an officer of the Australian Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts and the head of the delegation of the Commonwealth of Australia to the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Montreal, Canada. The position has the rank and status of an ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary and is one of Australia's representatives to the United Nations and its other constituent agencies. The Australian nominee to the Air Navigation Commission, a body that works towards the uniformity in regulations, standards and procedures which will facilitate and improve air navigation to international standards, acts as the deputy to the Permanent Representative.
Lucy Tamlyn is an American diplomat who has served as the United States ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo since February 2023. She previously served as chargé d'affaires to Sudan ; as United States ambassador to the Central African Republic ; and as United States ambassador to Benin.
William Brent Christensen is a United States diplomat who served as the Director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the de facto embassy of the United States in Taiwan, from 2018 to 2021. Christensen's prior appointments include Deputy Director of AIT and Director of the State Department’s Office of Taiwan coordination.
Krishna Raj Urs is an American diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Peru from 2017 to 2020.
Thomas L. Carter is a former military and commercial pilot and retired Major General in the Air Force Reserve Command who recently served as the US Representative to the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization. He served over 34 years with the U.S. Air Force and AF Reserve, retiring in 2009. Carter was also a US Airways pilot for 13 years. He previously served as Vice President for Government Relations at Elbit Systems of America and President of Commonwealth Consulting Corporation. He was Senior Counselor to the Coalition Provisional Authority for Legislative Affairs in Baghdad from late 2003 to 2004 and also served as Assistant to the Chairman for Government Affairs of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board in 2003. Carter is a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense and a National Security Affairs staffer for Senate Republican Leader Bob Dole.
Kevin K. Sullivan is an American diplomat and he was the United States Ambassador to Nicaragua.
Michael J. Fitzpatrick is an American diplomat who served as the United States ambassador to Ecuador from 2019 to 2024.
Duane E. Woerth is a former American labor union leader.
