Two incidents, in a span of two hours on Tuesday, have rekindled public discourse on passenger safety in aviation. In both cases, it was sheer providence that no lives were lost. The Mumbai-bound Jet Airways aircraft that skidded off the runway at Dabolim airport in Goa was carrying 154 passengers and 7 crew members. When a departing SpiceJet aircraft came face-to-face with an in-coming Indigo Airbus at Delhi Airport, it was a close shave for the 363 passengers on board the two planes. While the Civil Aviation Ministry has ordered customary probes, going by past records, they are least likely to bring about a lasting change in the aviation sector. Such incidents rarely create ripples in government circles. A few days after the helicopter crash in Mumbai’s Aarey colony on December 12, with three casualties, the state government is planning to revive the joyride business. Prima facie, the mishaps on Tuesday point to both criminal callousness and systemic inadequacies. They must be seen alongside a Directorate General of Civil Aviation report, which says that from January to October this year, 38 pilots and 113 cabin crew across airlines failed the alcohol test in pre-flight medical examination. Little wonder then, that the US Federal Aviation Administration had downgraded India’s civil aviation sector in 2014 for failing to measure up to international safety standards.
29/12/16 DNA
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29/12/16 DNA
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