Strict action against airlines flouting safety norms: DGCA

Facing a severe staff crunch, the aviation regulator DGCA today said it was taking strict action against those flouting aviation safety norms, including airlines which conduct their own safety audits.
While a series of steps to recruit skilled manpower have taken place over the past year, staff shortage has led DGCA to outsource the primary obligation of conducting safety audits to airline companies most of the time under its overall supervision, official sources said.
Responding to a media report on several safety lapses over the past three years, the sources said strict action was being taken against those found flouting safety rules, including airlines and their staffers.

The actions were being taken in accordance with the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) and the Aircraft Act which provide for penalties for various kinds of violations, they said.
The sources said DGCA was short of about 400 technically- qualified staffers, while pointing out that the sudden expansion in air traffic in the recent years has not been commensurate with the technical expertise available.
The RTI-based report pointed to lapses like irregular safety audits, improper documentation regarding flight operations and engineering checks, air misses, instances of tripping of radars and communications as well as the menace of pilots found drunk.
The formation of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which would have operational and financial autonomy, would resolve these problems, they said, adding the CAA would be able to recruit its own staff unlike DGCA, whose technical staff are recruited through the long-winding processes of the UPSC.

A legislation to set up the CAA is likely to be tabled in Parliament for consideration and passage soon.