India confident of clearing safety audit under IASA

India is confident of clearing safety audit under International Aviation Safety Assessment programme (IASA) of US aviation regulator as most of the concerns raised by an audit team that visited in 2009 have been fulfilled, a senior aviation ministry official said today.
A four-member team from US' Federal Aviation Authority, which will have officials from operations, airworthiness and legal wings, is visiting the country for a week-long safety audit of the country's aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) from tomorrow.
"Last time, a team from FAA had visited in 2009, under the IASA, and raised concerns about the shortage of staff in the DGCA, but as recruitments have been done so I think most of their concerns have been fulfilled, and I think we will clear this audit also," the official said.

The FAA's foreign assessment programme focuses on a country's ability, not the individual air carrier, to adhere to international standards and recommended practices for aircraft operations and maintenance established by the United Nation's technical agency for aviation, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
Last month, the UN aviation watchdog, which had put India among 13 nations with the worst record of air safety oversight, had removed the country from its list after performing a compliance audit of the DGCA.
The ICAO completed an audit of the DGCA in December and found it wanting in its ability to oversee safety issues.

ICAO had identified a significant safety concern with respect to the ability of India to properly oversee areas under airworthiness and operations.