Surprise checks reveal varied violations

Surprise checks by India’s civil aviation watchdog, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), reveal more than a dozen pilots and cabin crew tested alcohol positive before taking their flights last year.
That’s among the more innocuous of safety protocol violations airlines and charter plane operators seem to routinely indulge in.
The DGCA crackdown found more than 4,000 “deficiencies” in safety operations during 2009—ranging from pilots flying without corrective glasses to airlines and charters operating with no flight safety departments whatsoever.
Almost no surveillance checks were carried out before 2009. But with the US regulator Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) threatening to downgrade its safety standards rating for India, DGCA carried out a total of 2,750 surprise checks last year.
“There were 4,005 deficiencies found. We have closed (taken action on) 3,800; 700 are pending and will be closed soon,” said a senior DGCA official, requesting anonymity. Thirty-six deficiencies were “category 1”, or serious violations, including pilots flying without corrective glasses and on expired licences.
Show-cause notices were issued to 19 operators, including airlines such as Jet Airways (India) Ltd’s low-cost subsidiary JetLite, Paramount Airways Pvt. Ltd and MDLR Airlines Pvt. Ltd, as reported earlier by Mint.
14/02/10 Tarun Shukla/Live Mint

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Feb 2010, Safety Feb 2010