DGCA lays down norms to strengthen flight safety
NEW DELHI: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has laid down guidelines for airlines as part of its surveillance programme to strengthen flight safety, and warned of strict actions in case of non-compliance, people familiar with the development said.
The aviation regulator has also asked airlines to take immediate and strict action when an issue is pointed out to them.
“Flight safety is a serious business and it requires a systematic approach towards safety management. It has to be collaborative and correctional,” DGCA director general Arun Kumar said. “The organised response lays down roles and responsibilities of all concerned, which, if not discharged appropriately entails enforcement actions.”
The direction comes as the DGCA has made a detailed surveillance programme focusing on passengers’ safety. Organisations such as scheduled airlines, non-scheduled operators, aircraft maintenance firms, design and manufacturing organisations, flying training institutes, and maintenance training institutes have been included in the programme.
“A robust safety management system is a sine qua non (essential condition) for every entity working in aviation. It identifies key safety priorities, indicators and risks and their resolution through appropriate mitigation measures,” Kumar said.
Explaining the procedure, the aviation regulator said any siging nificant non-compliance of safety standards — which lowers the safety standard and affects seriously the flight safety — identified during surveillance should be addressed immediately and intimated to the DGCA. Once intimated, the DGCA office will then verify compliance action to ensure that the hazard to safety has been resolved.
However, in some cases, such resolutions may take time. “In such cases, DGCA office may allow the resolution of the level 1 finding for a period not exceedseven days provided that the immediate risk to safety has been adequately mitigated,” a DGCA circular, dated April 15, read.
DGCA said that findings related to non-compliance that could lower the safety standard and possibly hazard the flight safety must be resolved within a short time not exceeding 30 days subsequent to a review of the submitted targeted corrective action plan.
“The observations shall be intimated to the approved organisations in the form of Deficiency Reporting Forms (DRF), which has been standardised,” the circular stated.
Kumar said, “Continuous monitoring of risk mitigation measures to ensure that they remain relevant is incumbent on all concerned.”