After US prod, DGCA cracks whip

New Delhi: For once, big brother Uncle Sam’s threat to downgrade Indian aviation to sub-Saharan African countries has meant tough times for desiairlines. To avoid being downgraded to level two from its current top rating, the government strengthened the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s (DGCA) week flight inspection systems. From four inspectors for India’s burgeoning airline industry, the number went up to 32 in past five months, who in turn have so far conducted 2,500 checks and found a whopping 3,000 violations by airlines. As many as 87 actions have been taken so far against pilots, engineers and notices issued to airlines for these safety breaches.
What’s more, DGCA which was on Wednesday told by US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that it retains its top billing thanks to the massive steps taken to strengthen the regulator in past five months is going to conduct 1,800 more such checks to complete its target of 4,300 surveillance activities this year. So, airlines better be on guard as the directorate, led by its head Nasim Zaidi and key deputies A K Chopra and R P Sahi, is going to be doing surprise checks anywhere, anytime.
Most of the violations detected were in areas of licensing of the crew, medical lapses, flight duty time limitations, maintenance and operations side. Cases like pilots not carrying licences or wearing specs despite being told by doctors were found. On maintenance side, stationary aircraft not being checked with tyres blocked or planes not being serviced as per latest manuals were detected, said sources.
24/09/09 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Sep 2009, Safety Sep 2009