BOOM UNVEILS

THE ERA OF SUPERSONIC FLIGHT

It is an interesting study to go through the investigation procedures across the globe, most of which (193 ICAO members) are regulated by ICAO Aircraft Investigation Manual. ICAO Annex 13 gives the investigative structure of most of the countries. While USA has got National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) for all civil aircraft accidents, very few other countries like Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland have such established institutions; however all are well aware and are expected to follow ICAO Annex 13. NTSB considered as the benchmark of transport accidents, is composed of five presidentially appointed members, who are confirmed by the senate. The board is totally independent and responsible only to the President and the Congress. The size of investigation team is as per the size of the accident. It could be a single member for a small investigation and maybe 10-12 groups for a big airline accident. The investigations may take 8 to 10 months in several cases and only an authorised member (maybe Investigator–in–charge or one of the Group Chairmen) will make any public comment. NTSB follows ICAO recommendation closely with a unique exception of use of “Parties to the Investigation”. These parties maybe the organisation’s employees, functions or qualified technical personnel to assist in the field investigation.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) may get involved in the investigations as a party to the investigation. However it does not participate in the analysis and cause determination. This makes the investigation independent and unbiased to a large extent. FAA does not get involved in airline accidents. Some accidents involving agricultural aircraft or homebuilt experimental aircraft are delegated to the FAA for collecting factual information. Further, NTSB uses this factual information for determination of probable causes.

Most of the investigating staff all over the world are trained either in US or UK and therefore they share common knowledge, practices and procedures. Globally it is believed that the purpose of investigation is not to fix the blame but prevention of future accidents. Here it is very important to discuss the military aviation accident investigation procedure too, because most of the advanced military forces have always had a robust and strong internal investigation system. In fact Air Commerce Act 1926 in USA was written to exclude the military aviation.

Indian Air Force too has had a very reliable and robust Flight Safety eco-system. Director General (Inspection and Safety) is tasked with the job of Inspecting the operational and combat preparedness of all the IAF units. In this process all the aspects including operations, maintenance and administration are scrutinised and put under the microscopic observations of the inspectors. This kind of audit system from an external agency keeps a check on the field units and ensures adherence to safe procedures without compromising on operational efficiency.

Shortage of Qualified Flight Operations Inspectors. The Flight Standards Directorate (FSD) is responsible for the overall safety oversight related activities of the DGCA. These involve implementation of policies related to licensing, aircraft operations and airworthiness of aircraft. FAA had downgraded India from Cat 1 to Cat 2 in the year 2014. One of the reasons for the downgrade was lack of current and qualified type rated instructors. After this the cabinet approved 75 posts of Flight Operations Inspectors (FOIs). At present it is being manned by FOIs in various categories on contract basis since 2014 which was to expire in June 2020. This year 36 of these FOIs have left the job already. These FOIs are critical to flight safety of the civil aviation in India. They are supposed to ensure that the pilots operating the aircraft are trained according to an approved programme and carry out proficiency checks of these pilots before the pilot license is endorsed with the type of aircraft.

Lack of Authority with the Inspectors. The contractual FOIs face many problems like lack of job security due to it’s temporary nature, difficulty in maintaining flying currency, lack of authority in DGCA. The power of recruitment is with DG, which means that the FOI will serve only till the time his recruiters are happy. This is an unhealthy situation for the Inspectors to work.

Lack of Training opportunities for the Trainers. FOIs are supposed to maintain their flying currency from time to time to keep their license valid and these involve several hours of flying with heavy financial obligations. The cost involved in training the pilots on these aircraft is exorbitant. The contractual FOIs are not getting any support in this respect and if their parent airlines facilitate this flying then they would expect favours in return. This compromises the standard and sanctity of the exam leading to sub-standard flight safety environment.

The impact of such downgrade by international bodies like ICAO, FAA and EASA is bad for the country’s image. It has got far reaching economic impacts too. The Indian Carriers would not be allowed to expand their operations in these countries. The existing operations too would come under ‘ heightened FAA Surveillance’.

AAIB should be an independent body reporting directly to the Cabinet. AAIB reporting to DGCA may lead to clash of interests and also it is against basic principles of natural justice. For example, in USA the NTSB is not answerable to FAA and reports to the President directly. The Chairman of AAIB should be given quasi- judicial powers so that they have authority to summon the witnesses and this will also enable them to objectively determine facts and draw conclusions from them so as to provide the basis of an official action. DGCA should have type qualified FOIs on permanent payroll and not on contractual basis and they should be tasked with inspecting and rating the airlines the way Directorate of Air Staff Inspection does in the IAF. In order to attract the FOIs, the DGCA needs to have a more attractive pay package. These FOIs should standardise the procedures across the fleet.

DGCA should have two wings – (a) Aviation Operations and ( b) Administration & Finance. Issues like Regulations, Airworthiness certifications, Licensing etc should come under the Aviation Operations and should be looked after by aviation experts qualified on the job. The bureaucrats may be given the Administration and finance part.

DGCA should be headed by an aviator from Civil Aviation or Air force background with sufficient experience on various types of aircraft. Let’s face it, aviation is a specialised field as complex as brain surgery. With all due respect to the bureaucrats’ versatility and management capability, a three year or even five year tenure is not sufficient to understand the nuances of aviation operations. All over the world the Aviation regulatory bodies are managed and headed by aviation specialists. UK Civil Aviation Authority and FAA are examples of the same. Sir Stephen Hillier who heads the UK CAA is ex Chief of Air Staff of Royal Air Force, Stephen Dickson who heads the FAA is ex Air Force pilot and has flown civil aircraft extensively with Delta Airlines. There are instances in DGCA too when the Director General’s post was tenanted by IAF officers - Air Marshal Jafar Zaheer in 1979 and Air Marshal Chandrakant Raje from 1984 to 1986. Both these officers were experienced aviators and did a lot of changes in DGCA to improve flight safety which included proposal to create Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS).

Most of the safety audits of DGCA (ICAO- December 2012; FAA – September 2013) have highlighted the same issues which have been covered in the article. The institution of AAIB, recruitment of 75 Flight Operations Inspectors and giving controls of DGCA to aviation specialists are going to prove positive steps in securing the aviation environment in India. This will also improve India’s credibility across the globe and provide the airlines more opportunities to expand their businesses abroad.

The author is a Research Scholar with 17 years of aviation experience and more than 3000 flying hours. Currently he is pursuing his Phd in Aviation Management from the University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun.