DGCA loath to give info

Chennai: Is the Directorate General of Civil Aviation shy of letting the public know about flight safety norms? Or does it treat questions addressed to it through the Right to Information Act as unworthy of being answered at all?
These were the impressions one got after going through the replies given by Deputy Director of Airworthiness at the DGCA to 11 questions on flight dispatcher and safety audits raised by a Delhi-based retired law officer.
Seven of the questions elicited a ‘no comment’ reply.
However, to the questions: “Do all airlines operating in India follow Civil Aviation Rules and Regulations (CAR)? Does DGCA conduct audit in all airlines?” the replies were: “Yes, all airlines operating in India have to follow CAR. DGCA conducts audit in all airlines.”
Whether the replies were smart or dull is a matter of debate as many airlines are said to flout such rules and regulations. And if there had been audits, how do they get away with them?
Among the questions that drew ‘no comments’, one related to the mandatory presence of a dispatcher in locations where an aircraft has night halt. The public is not expected to know that there is a specific CAR (Section 5 Series F Part I Para c) that states “the operator should have sub-bases at stations where there are night halts.
09/07/09 Mamta Todi/ExpressBuzz

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Jul 2009