DGCA pulls report on Kingfisher mishap

Mumbai: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) pulled its report on a Kingfisher aircraft skidding at Mumbai airport a day after it was put online.
In a bid to be more transparent, the DGCA had made public two reports on Tuesday , the first of which was about a Dubai-Pune Air India Express flight that plunged several thousand feet on May 26 this year as the first officer froze at the controls. The second report was about a case that occurred last November when a Kingfisher aircraft skidded off Mumbai runway while landing.
The DGCA report, as TOI reported on Wednesday, classified the second case as a "serious incident" even though it fell under the 'accident' category according to definitions drawn by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the Indian Aircraft Rule, 1937.
According to ICAO, an accident is an occurrence in which "the aircraft sustains damage or structural failure which would normally require major repair or replacement of the affected component" . An incident, meanwhile, "is an occurrence ... associated with the operation of an aircraft which affects or could affect the safety of operation" .
Though the DGCA report admitted that the aircraft was substantially damaged, it skirted ICAO definitions and called the occurrence only 'a serious incident' . "From an airline's point of view, having a recorded accident increases the insurance premium on the entire fleet of aircraft. So a 'serious incident' is better any day," said an insurance official.
25/11/10 Manju V/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Nov 2010, Kingfisher Nov 2010, Safety Nov 2010