After clean chit, FAA to review DGCA’s security measures

New Delhi: The country’s air safety regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), may find itself in the dock again US. The US air safety monitoring agency, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which had earlier threatened to downgrade India’s safety ranking from Category I and subsequently given the Indian regulator a clean chit, will be reviewing the recent measures taken by the DGCA in four-five months’ time.
The FAA is said to have communicated this decision to the civil aviation ministry in the recently held India-US Aviation Partnership Summit attended by senior officials. FAA, which conducts an audit to determine whether a country complies with international air safety standards, would undertake a detailed review of the steps taken by the DGCA so far, said an official close to the development. The civil aviation ministry will also monitor and oversee the progress of DGCA’s initiatives to mitigate the concerns highlighted by the US agency. While most of the issues raised have been taken care of, the deployment of manpower and creation of technical posts will take around two years, the official said. “This is a serious matter and the civil aviation ministry would be closely watching the developments. We don’t want an embarrassing situation,” said the official.
In September, India was found to be fully compliant with the international safety standards in an audit done by FAA.
22/12/09 Smita Aggarwal/Indian Express

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Categories: c, Foreign Dec 2009, Indian Aviation- In General Dec 2009