The earthquake that devastated the capital of Haiti and much of its environs in January 2010, causing massive fatalities and damage to property, could be distinguished from the Tsunami of December 2004 in that the latter left the government infrastructure and machinery intact. The earthquake, on the other hand, crippled the Haitian government and infrastructure, rendering government authorities weak in the running of the country. From an aeronautical perspective, this brought to bear issues of sovereignty within the parameters of relief flights and humanitarian law. Another devastation that was unique to the earthquake was that although the only runway at the airport was undamaged, the rest of the aviation infrastructure lay in a shambles. The flow of the numerous relief flights that came into Haiti after the fact had therefore to be managed with caution and diligence. This article addresses these issues in the backdrop of the applicable principles of public international law and the regulatory regime of international civil aviation.
Air and Space Law