DGCA gets 3 months to escape US rap

New Delhi: The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Friday concluded its five-day-long reassessment of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)’s safety regulations, necessitated by a shocking lack of staff strength here. Based on the action plan prepared by India to avoid being downgraded by FAA to the levels of sub-Saharan African nations, from its current number one ranking, the American team is tentatively scheduled to be back in June and see the actual implementation of the plan.
The FAA could downgrade India, if the promise to make Indian skies safer by having a strong regulatory mechanism, which will ultimately see DGCA evolve into an autonomous civil aviation authority, remains only on paper and is not implemented. To begin with, the FAA is learnt to have softened its stance after seeing that India had started taking corrective action for strengthening DGCA ever since it first issued the threat of reassessment in January.
‘‘Certainly, they were aghast at the shocking lack of staff strength and we have assured them that in the next two to three months impressive action would have been taken. In fields where we have staff shortage like operations, airports and air navigation supervision, outside help is being taken by taking inspectors on secondment from airlines. These people will be on board shortly and work under our supervision,’’ said sources.
21/03/09 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Categories: Foreign Mar 2009, Indian Aviation- In General Mar 2009, Safety Mar 2009