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.
Such international standards and recommended practices are laid down by the United Nations' technical agency for aviation, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
In the aftermath of the January 25, 1990, crash of Avianca flight 52 on Long Island, New York, questions emerged about how the FAA conducted safety oversight of foreign air carriers flying into the United States.
[2] In response to a five-part Newsday series on the poor safety record of some foreign airlines that appeared in December 1990,[3][4] the FAA established the IASA program in 1992.
Following an IASA audit, a country is assigned one of two ratings: Carriers from Category 2 countries are allowed to continue operating to the United States as before the assessment, but are not allowed to expand their service to the US or codeshare with US carriers.