Inspector - comrade and controller

Although an air traffic inspector in the Civil Aviation Agency (ACV) Zoran Lalović in close relations with the founder of the MontAdria International Seaplane Regatta Dragiša Raičević he also flies seaplanes around Montenegro, of which "Vijesti" has footage, ACV claims that this does not affect the professionalism of Lalović's actions in cases related to seaplane flights.

The ACV told "Vijesti" that Lalović will not participate in the eventual conduct of inspection supervision and the ACV's treatment of Raičević and other participants of MontAdria, whose flying has been the subject of many objections in the past month.

The flights of several ultralight seaplanes last month in Boka, especially their overflights and the execution of various maneuvers at low altitudes over populated areas, tourist resorts or cultural monuments (Our Lady of Škrpjela), received numerous comments from citizens and managers of the local fire and rescue services, who believe that that behavior of the flyers is improper and endangers their own, but above all, the safety of other people and objects on land and sea.

The Administration of Maritime Safety and Port Management of Montenegro (UPSUL) submitted several reports to the ACV due to the manner in which ultralight seaplanes flew over the coast and landed at several locations on the sea, two of which relate to the Bay of Boka Kotorska where the seaplanes unauthorized landing on the sea near Cape Sveta Nedjelja, i.e. in front of the Đurašević Coast. Experienced air traffic controllers, according to unofficial information from "Vijesti", defined this second case in particular as a violation of all procedures because it happened in the most strictly controlled CTR zone of Tivat airport, and they believe that due to such flying of a seaplane in that zone, the pilot who landed on the sea not quite a hundred meters away from the houses on the Đurašević Coast and the entire duty shift that was then at the control tower of the Tivat airport.

Video recording

After writing about the risky and illegal flying of seaplanes in Montenegro (non-aerodrome landings and take-offs), another source submitted a video to "Vijesta" in which, along with MontAdria's founder, Dragiš Raičević, in his Icon A-5 seaplane, which is landed on Lake Skadar, see also Lalović. The two of them, after leaving the cockpit, sit together on the wing of the Icon A-5 floating on the surface of Lake Skadar and take pictures of themselves with a drone piloted by Raičević.

On this occasion, "Vijesti" requested an explanation from the supreme aviation authority in the country, regarding the nature of the relationship between its inspector and Raičević, who with his personal and flying of other participants of the MontAdria regatta in the previous place filled the columns of domestic and foreign media, that is, caused a lot of complaints from citizens and official applications submitted by other state institutions.

According to the institution, Lalović is employed in the position of "Supervisor I for Air Operations - Aircraft Pilot". They also explained that the organizers of the MontAdria seaplane regatta, which was organized this year in Montenegro for the third time in a row, informed the ACV that "in the summer period, there will be a larger number of seaplanes that will take off and land on water surfaces.

"Experiences from previous years show that these operations were carried out with very good prior preparation of the aircraft pilots for the flight and there were no deviations from the regulatory framework. Within the scope of its competences, as well as with the institutional support of the relevant ministry and the Government in the form of the development of this type of transport, CAA took proactive measures in assessing the possible risks of seaplane operations on water surfaces. As the only holder of an active pilot's license at the time, Zoran Lalović was the contact person in the Agency for those operations, he organized meetings with representatives of MontAdrija in order to provide the necessary answers from the domain of the Agency's work when it was necessary" - we were told in CAA.

The CAA did not want to go into the nature of Lalović's private relations with Raičević, stressing that "it is not competent, as long as it is in accordance with the internal acts of the Agency regarding the issue of conflict of interest". They explained that Lalović has no obstacles for private flying outside of working hours.

"By looking at Lalović's license, he cannot fly the Icon A-5 aircraft because he does not have a registered authorization for it. Also, he does not have an authorization for landing on water surfaces - SEP (SEA), which is a condition for conducting operations on water surfaces. In the mentioned private "Lalović can participate in the flight only as a passenger and not as part of the flight crew," the ACV said.

A passenger, not a pilot

The Agency stated that the Employee Code of Ethics specifies that "an employee must not allow his private interest to conflict with the public interest in connection with the performance of work within the Agency's jurisdiction."

"As we answered, Lalović was not part of the flight crew. Raičević did not initiate any administrative proceedings at the Agency led by Lalović, which could produce a potential or actual conflict of interest. The joint flight that was realized in the aforementioned video outside of working hours with Raičević is not treated as a possible conflict of interest, especially since Lalović is in the role of a passenger. All further actions that took place in the Agency took place according to plan and were documented," the ACV emphasizes.

When asked whether Lalović participated in the proceedings initiated before the Croatian Civil Aviation Authority after UPSUL reported Raičević for improper and unauthorized off-airport landing and take-off from the water surface at the mouth of Bojana on July 7, they replied that they were "collecting additional information about that event and analyze the obtained data", and that depending on the results of the analysis, the ACV initiates its own mechanisms, among which inspection supervision is also possible.

"Lalović, in accordance with the approval of his immediate manager and with the presence of other supervisors of the Agency, as an expert, carried out an additional collection of information about these events, of which an official note was duly made, while the eventual conduct of the inspection supervision will be entrusted to another air traffic safety inspector ", the ACV emphasized, adding that Lalović does not lead the inspection supervision procedure for other reports regarding possible violations of regulations when performing operations on water surfaces and flying seaplanes.

Involved in ACV projects related to flying seaplanes

Lalović is an experienced pilot who transferred to the ACV about 15 years ago from the Army, where he previously served for a long time as a military pilot and flight instructor on "supergaleb G-4" type combat aircraft, as part of the former 172nd Aviation Brigade at the military airport Golubovci.

He has also been working on projects related to flying seaplanes at ACV for years. Raičević, a pilot and aviation enthusiast from Beran, who is the owner of the only private seaplane registered in Montenegro, tries to popularize seaplane operations for sports and tourism purposes through the MontAdria regatta, which he is the creator and initiator of.

CAA confirmed to "Vijesta" that Lalović was delegated on behalf of the Agency almost ten years ago as a contact person in the EU IPA INTEREG project ADRI SEAPLANES 2014, in which CAA was an associated partner.

"In the last year of its duration, the project managed to achieve its goals, which were reflected in the harmonization of aviation regulations in the field of water operations and the construction of the necessary infrastructure, which will ensure safe operations. As part of the harmonization of aviation regulations in the field of water operations, the data obtained on operations in other partner countries of the project (Italy, Greece, Croatia, etc.) were used to create the Rulebook on conditions and methods for off-airport landing and take-off of aircraft, which was fully harmonized. with all relevant state institutions", explained the ACV.

They added that CAA continued to participate in the project "Program of cross-border cooperation Italia - Montenegro - Albania - 2021-2027", in order to raise the safety of air traffic in operations on water surfaces to the highest possible level and that this project is coordinated by Lalović on behalf of the Agency. .

The joint flight that was realized in the above-mentioned video outside of working hours with Raičević is not treated as a possible conflict of interest, especially since Lalović is in the role of a passenger, the Agency claims.