The government is considering creating a dedicated mechanism to deal with all major accidents, including air crashes, and giving total autonomy to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), to further empower it as the aviation regulator of the country.
Aiming to separate the roles of a regulator and an investigator, the government is considering an independent safety board on the lines of the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said here.
NTSB investigates all major accidents in the US, including air crashes, or accidents at sea or highways. It also assists other nations in probing such accidents. For example, it sent a team of investigators to India after the Mangalore air crash on May 22 that left 158 people dead.
“We have had a tragic accident. We should not now be found lacking on any front. We will do everything necessary to ensure an orderly growth of aviation. The expectations are very high, as the sector is growing,” the minister said.
After addressing the first meeting of the Civil Aviation Safety Advisory Council (CASAC), set up within a week of the Mangalore air crash, he said: “The government will definitely consider granting full autonomy to DGCA and empower it to independently carry out its work as a regulator of the Indian aviation sector.”
If needed, the government would bring in a “suitable legislation” to turn DGCA into a fully autonomous body with overriding authority on all aviation regulatory matters, he said.
As it was felt that the role of the regulator and the investigator should be “de-linked”, the government was considering a separate body to probe accidents, he said.
Drawing lessons from the recent crash, which occurred on a ‘table-top runway’ located on a plateau, DGCA had decided to carry out a drive to inspect systems and facilities at 11 airports, described as “critical”, Patel said, adding “critical does not mean unsafe. It reflects on the topography of the area where these airports exist”.
Sources said DGCA had sent 11 teams to these airports to inspection and review the existing facilities, landing and navigational systems, as well as the runways, and recommend steps for improvements. The “critical airports” are those in Leh, Kullu, Shimla, Port Blair, Agartala, Lengpui, Calicut, Mangalore, Jammu, Patna and Latur.
He said the reports of these teams were “expected to come (to DGCA) within a week”.
Referring to the meeting of CASAC, headed by DGCA chief, S N A Zaidi, the civil aviation Minister said, the meeting decided to set up four sub-groups — on operations, airports and air traffic control, maintenance and helicopters-related issues.
The four sub-groups would come up with reports on enhancing safety in the respective areas within three weeks and submit them to CASAC, which would meet once a month to review the progress made in all these areas, Patel said.
“All suggestions of CASAC to further enhance aviation safety in the country will be given top priority by DGCA and the government,” he said.
CASAC has been given the task to recommend best regulatory practices in air operations and other measures to further beef up aviation safety. It has 28 members from various aviation sub-sectors like airlines, flight operations, airworthiness and operations.
Today’s meeting was attended by top executives of all major airlines, the Airports Authority of India, other airport operators, the Air Traffic Control, pilots, engineers, representatives from International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), Boeing, Airbus and other organisations.
Noting that the safety standards in India had been good, Patel said all regulations of ICAO had been “fully implemented”. ICAO and FAA had been “satisfied with our procedures” after carrying out their own safety audits.
Court of inquiry ordered into Mangalore crash
The government today set up a Court of Inquiry (CoI) into the Mangalore air crash. The committee will be headed by former Vice Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Bhushan Nilkanth Gokhale.
“The CoI has been asked to complete its investigation and submit the report by August 31,” said a release from the civil aviation ministry.
The government has also appointed four experts from different fields to assist Gokhale as assessors: Capt Ron Nagar, a former flight inspector and pilot of erstwhile Indian Airlines, former DGCA officer SS Nat, executive vice-president, (engineering) in GoAir Babu Peter and former director of Indian Airlines, and former executive director of Airports Authority of India Gurcharan Bhatura.
The Gokhale inquiry would investigate all aspects of the crash of the Air India Express Boeing 737-800 at the Bajpe Airport on May 22, in which 158 people were killed.
The plane was operating on scheduled flight IX-812 from Dubai to Mangalore when it plunged into a ravine after overshooting the runway on landing.
