Pilots have a nip, then nap in airborne planes

Chennai: With a recent court of inquiry revealing that the pilot of the Air India aircraft that crashed at the Mangalore airport had dozed off for over 90 minutes, air passengers are raising concerns over the safety and security norms in the civil aviation sector. DGCA officials maintain that there is no proper system to monitor “controlled naps” inside the cockpit.
“Though some airliners have certain measures to monitor ‘controlled naps’ inside the cockpit, India’s aviation industry is yet to frame rules and guidelines to address this issue,” said a senior official of Airports Authority of India (AAI). “Though a maximum of 30 minutes’ controlled nap is allowed, none of the airliners has ever taken action on its violation,” Capt. M. Ranganathan, an aviation expert and veteran pilot, told this newspaper.
Another cause of concern is that about 200 pilots have failed breath analyser tests for alcohol before takeoff in the last two years. “Both airlines and the Aviation ministry are ignoring the safety concerns of air passengers....” said Mr D. Sudhakara Reddy, founder president of Air Passengers’ Association of India (APAI).
While addressing a seminar on the rights and responsibilities of air passengers, Mr Reddy also alleged that authorities were ignoring the serious issue that over 40 airports in the country were running without proper safety norms.
20/09/10 Deccan Chronicle

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Categories: Safety Sep 2010