Air pocket: Show cause to SpiceJet overdue. DGCA has to be more proactive on safety

Source: The post is based on the article “Air pocket: Show cause to SpiceJet overdue. DGCA has to be more proactive on safety” published in “The Times of India” on 7^th July 2022.

Syllabus: GS 3 – Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.

Relevance: To understand aviation safety in India.

News: India’s civil aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation(DGCA) issued a show-cause notice to SpiceJet after reviewing a series of incidents. DGCA has concluded that the airline had poor internal safety oversight and inadequate maintenance.

Consequently, there’s been a degradation in safety margin. There have been at least seven instances reported since May. For example, the Delhi-Dubai flight had to be diverted to Karachi after a snag.

About the air accidents in India

The Government informed Rajya Sabha that there have been investigations into 49 air accidents since 2016. The findings showed that the main reasons for accidents were a) A failure on the part of the cockpit crew to stick to standard operating procedures, b) Technical defects and c) Factors related to the weather and ATC.

In 2013-14, the US Federal Aviation Authority decided to downgrade Indian civil aviation from category I to category II after an audit brought out shortcomings in safety and maintenance. It had an adverse impact on the international plans of some Indian carriers.

How DGCA can improve aviation safety?

DGCA primarily deals with safety issues. DGCA’s primary responsibility is to take timely action to make sure that Indian flyers are guaranteed safety standards that match the best. That requires being proactive when problems are at a nascent stage.