Air safety audits in India are a 'big joke'

Bangalore: Even as civil aviation experts and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) determine the cause of the Mangalore crash, many have started pointing fingers at the faulty flight safety system, which is prone to sweeping serious safety flaws under the carpet.
Aviation safety consultant and former instructor pilot, A Ranganathan, said the manner in which safety audits are conducted in India is a ‘big joke’ as it follows “a policy of you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.”
Air India (AI) takes it easy, as most audit inspectors are officials from the state-owned airline and DGCA, the regulatory body operating under the ministry of civil aviation, said Ranganathan.
“They (AI) take it (safety audits) for granted as they know they can get over any problem. Today, anything can get approved if you have the right contact (in the DGCA or the ministry). Many private airlines can also cover up their safety violations that emerge from routine audits by leveraging their contacts in the ministry,” he said. In this year’s safety audit, auditors gave clean chits to all airlines, except regional airlines Paramount Airlines and MDLR. Though the government has improved the audit procedures considerably, there’s a long way to go to match international standards, added Ranganathan.
It was during the boom period between 2004 and 2008 that many lapses crept into the flight safety auditing, highlights Ranganathan. For instance, flight safety checks were not conducted on many carriers for more than two years during that time. “The standards really dropped during this phase. Today, we are paying the price for such safety laxity,” he said.
Air Marshal (retired) Bijoy Pandey said officials conducting audits are not adequately qualified and lacked in-depth technical knowledge to inspect safety systems of airlines. “If you compare the investigation accident reports filed by our safety inspectors to those brought out in some developed countries, you will see a marked difference between them,” said Ranganathan.
24/05/10 Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Air India Budget May 2010, Airports May 2010, NACIL May 2010, Safety May 2010