Industry
Safety
Air India flight overshot the runway at Calicut resulting in significant casualties
Civil Aviation in India Key Recommendations
DGCA, the statutory body to regulate civil aviation, is facing several challenges including maintaining its credibility as a responsible member of ICAO
PHOTOGRAPHs: HardeepSPuri / twitter
by R.K. Yadav
I
ndian civil aviation has seen two terrible tragedies in last ten years and both the accidents seem to have some similarities. In 2010 an Air India aircraft from Dubai had overshot the runway in Mangalore and slid downhill killing 158 people. On August 7, 2020 another Air India Flight IX-1344 from Dubai to Calicut overshot the runway and 18 out of 190 people onboard perished in the crash including the two pilots. While the investigation by Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is still on, there were several comments like "two fellows are dead...and the landing it seems was not appropriate” made by the officials in the
Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). These comments faced severe backlash from the Indian Commercial Pilots’ Association (ICPA) and the Indian Pilots’ Guild (IPG) which, in a letter to civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri asked for removal of current DG Arun Kumar and replacing him with a suitable candidate with substantial knowledge of the aviation sector and sufficient operational experience. The accident and the events after that have raised several questions regarding the aviation safety practices in India. DGCA which is the statutory body to regulate civil aviation is facing several chalSP’S AIRBUZ • Issue 5 • 2020
11
