Managing Safety in Fast Growing Civil Aviation

There has been exponential growth in the Indian Civil Aviation Sector in the recent past. The domestic passenger traffic grew from 32.67 million in 2006 to 43.29 million in 2007 registering a growth of 32.15%. There are 13 schedule airlines in operations and about 65 non-schedule operators. The number of aircraft has increased from about 300 in 2003-04 to about 600 now. As a result, there is need for efficient management of safety norms.

With this phenomenal growth, aviation safety has also assumed greater importance and is needed to be addressed with more care to ensure safe journey and secured movement. The operators have to adopt all the prescribed safety norms, even if the cost is high. The safety comes first. It cannot be compromised. Safety should not be evaluated in terms of static or operating cost.

The exponential growth of Civil Aviation has created high demand of trained manpower. There is shortage of skilled manpower to operate these aircraft. Many airlines have employed foreign pilots and engineers to meet the shortage. Foreign pilots flying Indian aircraft are issued authorizations subject to English proficiency check and knowledge of Indian Civil Aircrafts Rules and regulations as a safety measure. 1000 foreign pilots have been issued authorization by DGCA. However it has to be ensured that Airlines implement phasing out of foreign pilots as per their programme. There is no doubt that India Pilots who are more familiar with out airports and skies will give passengers more confidence to fly.

DGCA had carried out a number of safety audits. It has carried out audits in which the operator adherence to safety standards set up by DGCA in the form of Rules, CAR etc. are checked. A number of measures have been taken to ensure safety of aircraft operations which include implementation of recommendations emanating from Investigation of Aircraft Accidents and Hazardous Incidents, dissemination of Safety Information, safety audit of operator, periodic spot checks, prevention of bird strike incidents etc. Action against defaulters has also been taken wherever necessary.

To deal with the menace of bird strikes, various preventive measures like proper disposal of garbage, prevention of water-logging, scaring and shooting of birds, modification of take off and approach procedures etc. have been put in place. Also Aircraft Act has been amended suitably to make disposal of garbage in open within 10 kms. of the airport a cognizable offence.

DGCA has issued Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) for mandatory installation of safety equipment such as Airborne Collision Avoidance System (ACAS) on aircraft, Mode 'S' transponder, Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR), Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS). The above steps are to enhance safety of aircraft operations in flight by providing means to avoid air miss and ATC related incidents.

To cope with the ever-increasing air traffic in the Indian airspace, perspective plans for improved air space management have also been introduced which include introduction of flexi use of airspace. The indigenous development of Space Based Augmentation System (SBAS) – GAGAN, jointly by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Airports Authority of India (AAI), is also on traxk for implementation.

However, no initiative is fully complete unless results are there to see. And for the Indian skies due to effective measures taken by the Government, the past seven years have been totally accident-free years. No fatal accident has occurred to any of the scheduled airlines.

The tremendous growth in a short span of time has put pressure on the available resources and infrastructure of the DGCA. DGCA has to keep pace with the new challenges. There is a need for re-engineering of our Safety Regulator. The government is aware of this and steps are being taken in this direction.

Presently DGCA is performing dual role of regulator and investigator. The time has come, when there should be an independent investigative authority. This will definitely make operators and regulator more responsible, and will be in line with the best international practices.

The India Skies are safe. But this does not mean that there should be complacency. There are new challenges ahead. Both Operators and Regulator shall endeavour together to make the sky safer. Placing importance on safety in aviation would go a long way in sustaining the growth and development of air transport services.