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Problems with Civil Aviation in India

Article · April 2020

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Wing Commander Rakesh Yadav

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 Problems with Civil Aviation 2020

PROBLEMS WITH CIVIL AVIATION IN INDIA AND SUGGESTIONS TO IMPROVE

THE SITUATION

- Wg Cdr RK Yadav

Introduction

Indian 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 7 Aug 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 Mr 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
challenges including maintaining it‟s credibility as a responsible member of ICAO. The DGCA
conducted investigations through the Court of Inquiry and the Committee Inquiry and
simultaneously a separate investigative agency was established to comply with the Standards
And Recommended Practices (SARPs) of ICAO before the Aircraft amendment bill 2020.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) was established in 2011 when questions of
accident investigation were raised after the 2010 Mangalore accident.

1 Wg Cdr RK Yadav, [email protected]

 Problems with Civil Aviation 2020

Pic Courtesy: Indian Express

Aviation Accident Investigation – Global Perspective

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 authorized
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.

2 Wg Cdr RK Yadav, [email protected]

 Problems with Civil Aviation 2020

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 scrutinized 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.

DGCA and its Problems

The DGCA primarily deals with safety issues and is responsible for regulation of air transport
services and for enforcement of civil air regulations, air safety and airworthiness standards.
There are twelve specialized technical directorates to perform its regulatory functions. The major
departments include Licensing, Examinations, Training and Medicals for Pilots, Engineers, Air
Traffic Controllers and dispatchers, Air Operator Permits for scheduled and non scheduled air

3 Wg Cdr RK Yadav, [email protected]

 Problems with Civil Aviation 2020

transport services and also certification of airworthiness and registration of the aircraft. The
safety audits from time to time have brought out a number of issues with these departments.

 Lack of Expertise. All these are specialized jobs which need domain expertise. DGCA
has suffered multiple times due to their lack of Expertise and lack of understanding of
the intricacies of aviation operations. They have been questioned multiple times for their
mishandling of Boeing 737 max case. Their investigations too have been questioned by
aviation regulators in cases like Kingfisher Airline runway overrun in Pune in 2009 and
the Air India Express aircraft Mangalore accident in 2010.

 Immature Handling of the Accidents. In the present case too, the remarks made by the
DG only go to reveal his total lack of technical knowledge and amateurish view of the
unfortunate accident. It is an established scientific fact that so-called “smooth”
touchdowns may be counterproductive in certain adverse weather conditions and may
pose a significant risk to safety. Whether a landing technique is appropriate or a
contributory factor to a mishap can only be ascertained after a thorough, evidence
backed investigation. Such speculative and casual remarks damage the investigation as
well as the reputation of the organization and the country. It is not only un-ethical and
against the law to blame the pilot even before the enquiry has started, this shifts the
focus from systemic failures to the individual who is not alive anymore to defend
himself. The DGCA needs to introspect and look into the shortcomings that were
brought out in the audits carried out by ICAO and FAA.

 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 Jun 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 program 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.
4 Wg Cdr RK Yadav, [email protected]
 Problems with Civil Aviation 2020

 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 favors in
return. This compromises the standard and sanctity of the exam leading to sub-standard
flight safety environment.

Recommendations to make DGCA and AAIB more effective

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 standardize 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.

5 Wg Cdr RK Yadav, [email protected]

 Problems with Civil Aviation 2020

 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
specialized 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- Dec 2012; FAA – Sep 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 Wing Commander posted to Indian Air Force Headquarters in New Delhi. He is a
Research Scholar with 17 years of aviation experience and more than 3000 flying hours. He is alumnus of
the prestigious National Defence Academy and has done his MBA in International Trade Management
from NMIMS, Mumbai and MA in Human Resource Management from Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi.
Currently he is pursuing his Phd in Aviation Management from the University of Petroleum and Energy
Studies, Dehradun. He may be contacted on [email protected])

6 Wg Cdr RK Yadav, [email protected]

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