Indonesia aviation hurt by staff shortage

Toronto

INDONESIA scored poorly on a 2014 safety audit by the UN aviation agency largely because its Ministry of Transportation is understaffed, said two sources familiar with the matter, as the country struggles to cope with the expansion of air travel.

Indonesia's patchy aviation safety record worsened on Sunday when a passenger plane crashed in eastern Papua province killing all 54 people aboard, the third major plane crash this year in the South-east Asian archipelago.

The United Nation's Montreal- based International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) sets safety standards for international flights. Its audits evaluate countries' ability to oversee their airlines, including how well they co…