Sunday, July 27, 2014

DGCA to seek fresh audit of India's aviation safety oversight mechanism

With new procedures in place and skilled manpower recruited to carry out aviation safety surveillance, DGCA is ready to seek a fresh audit of India's safety oversight mechanism which was downgraded in January by its US counterpart FAA.

In a bid to meet all deficiencies in 33 areas found by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) after it carried out two safety audits last year, the DGCA has been on an overdrive to recruit flight inspectors, one of the key findings of the US aviation regulator. Following these deficiencies, FAA had downgraded India from the top Category-I to II on January 31 this year.

While a large number of full-time Flight Operations Inspectors (FOIs) and other skilled and technical manpower have already been recruited, a spate of interviews are still on to further enhance the strength of such officials to enable DGCA fulfil all the criteria and seek a fresh audit. The sources said DGCA has sought a meeting with FAA next month to submit its final report and make a comprehensive presentation on the progress made in rectifying the defects and allaying the concerns expressed by the US regulator.

The FAA's downgrade of the country's safety mechanism came after it found deficiencies in 33 areas, including severe shortage of skilled manpower even at the top levels in India's aviation regulator and lack of regulations and procedures on safety surveillance and related issues.
27/07/14 Daily News & Analysis
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