DGCA plans one-time surveillance of airlines

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) plans a one-time surprise surveillance on airlines to see whether they are following the rules for flight safety.

This follows the June 28 incident on an Air India flight in which data from the flight was not retrieved despite the aircraft being involved in a bad landing. The DGCA guidelines mandate 100 per cent monitoring of all flight data.

This is commonly referred to as Flight Operations Quality Assurance (FOQA) in aviation circles which is the exploitation of flight data to enhance flight safety. An analysis of flight data allows safety managers to identify trends and fully investigate the circumstances behind minor incidents so that operational procedures and training can be improved, along with raising awareness about safety issues within the airline.

The incident occurred on a Bengaluru-Hyderabad flight with an aircraft landing and almost immediately taking off which is being viewed as something which could have endangered the safe operations of the flight. With the flight data not available, the authorities have now sought details of the weather and other details from the airport as the pilot reportedly said the weather at the airport was bad. Following the Air India incident, the DGCA issued a show cause notice to the Director Flight Operations, Captain AS Sonam. The airline has also suspended an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer, sources said.

COMMENT NOW