The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is to set up a senior level task force, composed of state and industry experts, to address civil aviation and national security issues in the wake of the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH17 disaster.

This commitment of the ICAO was contained in a declaration made at a meeting of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), ICAO, the Airports Council International and the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO) in Montreal, Canada, yesterday.

The declaration committed the parties to review processes for the overflight of conflict zones, the IATA said in a statement.

The high-level meeting was called by ICAO to discuss appropriate actions that could mitigate potential risks to civil aviation in conflict zones.

IATA director-general and CEO Tony Tyler said: "The tragic shooting-down of MH17 was an attack on the whole air transport industry. The world's airlines are angry. Civil aircraft are instruments of peace. They should not be the target of weapons of war. That is enshrined in international law through the Chicago
Convention."

The statement said the task force would look at how relevant information could be effectively collected and disseminated.

It said ICAO had been asked to address the need to incorporate into international law, through appropriate UN frameworks, measures to govern the design, manufacture and deployment of modern anti-aircraft weaponry.

ICAO had also been asked to address fail-safe channels for essential threat information to be made available to civil aviation authorities and industry.

"We are asking ICAO to address two critical tasks. The first, and most urgent, is to ensure that governments provide airlines with better information with which to make risk assessments of the various threats they may face.

"The second is equally important but comes with a longer time frame. We will find ways through international law that will oblige governments better to control weapons which have the capability to pose a danger to civil aviation. Achieving these will make our safe industry even safer," said Tyler.

In supporting the industry's high expectations of the task force, Tyler also reassured the travelling public that flying today remained safe and secure.

"Every day about 100,000 flights take to the air and land safely. The systems supporting global aviation have produced the safest mode of transportation known to humankind.

"There is no need for major surgery. But we must identify and close some specific gaps in the system that, however infrequently, lead to unspeakable mistakes and tragedies," he said.

Flight MH17 crashed in eastern Ukraine on July 17 as it was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur with 283 passengers and 15 crew on board. The Boeing 777 aircraft is believed to have been shot down over the troubled country.