India Civil Aviation Safety: A Strained System

The proliferation of aviation in India is overwhelming its safety system, a parliamentary report has cautioned that systemic risks exist in the country that need to be corrected speedily.

Major Issues and Suggestions:

Understaffed Regulator: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is in desperately short staffing numbers and has only one half strength of the posts sanctioned. This results in high attrition rate, loss of expertise as well as the possibility of failing to achieve safety audits abroad.

Exhausted Air Traffic Controllers: Air Traffic Control Officers (ATCOs) experience critical levels of fatigue as they work in short staffed conditions and long time shifts. The report requires the elimination of overtime exemptions and to introduce a scientific Fatigue Risk Management System.

Inefficient enforcement: There are thousands of safety deficiencies that go unresolved. The committee recommends harsher punishments, such as fines and license revoking, as well as audits unfamiliar with the perpetration to make sure its guidelines were followed.

Disindivisible Helicopter Regulation: Helicopter operations that pose a high risk such as pilgrimmages are not regulated in a unified way. The report proposes a national regulatory system and required terrain specific pilot training.

Recurring Operational Hazards: Runway incursions and near-misses are on the rise and not being attended to with requisite seriousness. The report requires root-cause analysis of each of the incidents and acceleration in the process of installation of advanced navigation systems.

Stringent Safety Culture: This is a culture of huge fines, which keeps the personnel off reporting safety concerns. It is necessary to adopt a just culture where human error is not considered a negligence and to secure the whistleblowers.

Foreign Maintenance Dependence: There is a high dependency on the foreign facilities to maintain aircraft which makes it vulnerable. The incentivisation of domestic Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) hubs are essential to self-reliance.