The Hindu Business Line : The Chinese and Indian approach to flight safety

There is an old saying from Confucius: “If language is not correct, then what is said is not what is meant; if what is said is not what is meant, then what must be done remains undone; if this remains undone, morals and art will deteriorate; if justice goes astray, the people will stand about in helpless confusion. Hence there must be no arbitrariness in what is said. This matters above everything”

When J.R.D. Tata introduced the aviation chapter in India, he must have hoped India would be the leading light in aviation in the Asian region. There was a period when people set their watches by the arrival time of an Air-India aircraft. Today, the time will not be correct even if we cross the Anti-Meridian or the International Date line, as it is popularly called. The aviation scene in China was not even in the nascent stage at the time JRD flew the Puss Moth.

Today, the two fastest growing aviation sectors are in India and China. The growth rate is projected at more than 20 per cent. How do the two nations address the different issues in the sector? A comparative study reveals interesting aspects.

India vs China

Aviation safety is handled by two premium international organisations. One is the Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) and the other is ISASI (International Society of Air Safety Investigators). Every nation where aviation exists and every airline that should treat safety as the primary objective is a member of either or both organisations. FSF and ISASI conduct annual seminars where information and experiences are disseminated and shared.

China and the South-East Asian nations realise the potential of the two organisations in improving the safety environment. Three major seminars in the region — IASS 2004 (conducted by FSF and IATA) in November 2004 at Shanghai, ISASI 2007 in Singapore in August and the IASS 2007 to be held in Korea in October — show how the aviation world and authorities in the region address aviation safety.

Sadly, none of the airlines or the authorities from India found it necessary to attend and improve their safety knowledge and concepts. China, on the other hand, was present in full strength, both authorities and airlines representatives.

Let us see how the Chinese address this issue. In a recent statement in the press, the China Civil Aviation Authority (CAAC) warned that the air transport industry is developing too fast, and is confronted with huge pressure to ensure safety. Passenger and cargo throughput has increased nearly 20 per cent, year on year. The race to launch more airlines is also on. Ten new airlines are in the pipeline waiting approval, in addition to six private carriers and four that started operations in June 2005, the CAAC said.

With insufficient qualified personnel, airports and air-space, the growth “is too much for the industry to handle and may produce high risks in flight safety”, the CAAC said. Although China has experienced no major accidents in the past 33 months, the administration is worried it might repeat the mistakes it made between 1990 and 1993. “A major reason for having nine accidents between 1992 and 1994 was that growth had been too rapid for the industry to cope with flight safety,” the CAAC said.

To further ensure safety, the administration has cut daily flights in and out of the Beijing Capital International Airport by 48 since August 15, and said it will not accept applications for most new airlines before 2010. To overcome the acute pilot shortage, China employs expatriates. However, all those who fly the Chinese-registered aircrafts have to undergo mandatory assessments and medical examinations. They are then issued a local licence and the validity of those documents is based on the same requirements for all crew, local or expatriate. As is evident from the statement of the CAAC official, it is evident that the CAAC is not willing to take shortcuts just to keep the growth rate high while overlooking the safety aspects.

How it works in India

Contrast this with the way India handles the issue. We are willing to overlook safety in order to keep the numbers high. We roll out the red carpet to expatriate pilots, even at the cost of safety. They are not required to obtain an Indian licence, or have the mandatory medical checks that Indian pilots undergo and, because they are contract employees, rules and regulations are often swept under the carpet.

A glaring example is the misuse of the Age 60 rule for pilots. The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) changed the retirement age for pilots from 60 to 65, with the caveat that member-states need to ratify this. Several countries adopted the Age 65 with a special requirement to undergo medical examinations that are part of the renewal process. In India, there are several additional medical examinations required after the age of 60.

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the US, however, does not permit pilots to exercise the privilege of their Airline Transport Pilots Licence beyond the age of 60 for airline operations. They can only use their licences for cargo and general aviation sectors. This is clearly spelt out in their regulations as per their electronic database as of August 29, 2007.

F.A.R Part121.383 Airman: Limitations on use of services.

Each airman shall present either or both certificates for inspection upon the request of the Administrator.

No certificate-holder may use the services of any person as a pilot on an airplane engaged in operations under this part if that person has reached his 60th birthday. No person may serve as a pilot on an airplane engaged in operations under this part if that person has reached his 60th birthday.

Assessing risk

The FAA Administrator, Ms. Marion C. Blakey, made the following remarks in early November 2006 before the International Safety Forum in Washington, DC.: “It comes down to managing risk. You have to know the hazards — the consequences of what can hurt us. Then you must assess the likelihood that it will happen — the risk. And then, of course, the severity. The purpose of a safety management system is to provide a systematic way to eliminate, mitigate, or manage risk and to provide assurance that those actions are effective.”

Several airlines in India have obtained clearance from the DGCA for using FAA-licensed pilots over the age of 60. What they fail to realise is that these pilots are flying on an invalid licence certificate.

When the parent licence is not valid for airline operations, permitting them to operate airliners of Indian registration is dangerous. They do not realise the implications and consequences.

If an aircraft manned by one of these pilots is involved in an incident or accident, all insurance policies are invalid.

Second, if these incidents or accidents take place on foreign soil, it will lead to several complications, including cancellation of the permit. Do they realise the legal consequences if this were to happen on American soil?

FAA and NTSB cannot turn a blind eye when they find that the pilot of the involved aircraft does not hold a valid license. The US and the EU have been known to ban airlines that do not practise safe operations.

Comparing the two emerging giants in aviation, it is not difficult to see who is going to be the winner! While one country is willing to reduce flights to ensure safety, the other seems largely indifferent to passenger safety.

(The author is an airline pilot with 19,000 hours experience and specialises in accident-prevention studies.)

More Stories on : Airlines | Standards & Benchmarks | Accidents

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Denmark’s demographic trap

Living with a stronger rupee

The Chinese and Indian approach to flight safety

Dynamics of the new regionalism

A tale of two democracies

‘Interest’ingly insensitive

Can retail and futures help rural incomes?

Flying safe