DGCA cautions against compromising aviation safety

Cautioning against laxity in aviation safety, particularly in the backdrop of incidents elsewhere, India's aviation regulator on Friday said its inspections have thrown up instances where safety was compromised.

"There are a few incidents that are taking place mainly because we have been compromising on some of the safety aspects," Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) M. Sathiyavathy said here.

He was speaking at the launch of India Aviation 2016 to be held from March 16-20, 2016, at Begumpet airport of Hyderabad.

"After the Mangalore accident, we did not have any major incidents but that does not mean that we should be complacent," she added.

An Air India flight from Dubai with 160 passengers and six crew aboard crashed while landing at Mangalore airport in May 2010, leaving 158 people dead.

Expressing satisfaction over the upgrading of India's aviation safety rating to Category 1 by the US regulator FAA, Sathiyavathy said the challenge now is to sustain the top rating.

The DGCA has been carrying out comprehensive audits of the sector and would continue to do so in future, she added.