India?s flying safety standards under foreign bodies? scanner

International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) will audit the Directorate General of Civil Aviation?s safety oversight capability next month.

NEW DELHI: The threat of a downgrade looms over India's flying safety standards with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) set to audit the Directorate General of Civil Aviation's safety oversight capability next month, followed by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) two weeks later. This will be FAA's third inspection in four years.

The constant weakening of DGCA in terms of staff over past eight years even as air traffic in India has grown astronomically has raised concerns in FAA. India had so far managed to escape a downgrade to sub-Sahara African levels by promising to strengthen the aviation regulator and replace it with a new power body.

This time the foreign agencies could find the DGCA ? that continues to be short of experts ?headless too ascurrent DG Arun Mishra, an IAS officer, has completed nine years and now has to go back to his cadre state. "After Mishra, there is no one who meets the criteria to succeed him and we may have to give officiating charge to a joint secretary," a source said, adding that the aviation ministry may try to get Mishra an extension till the audit gets over.

FAA and ICAO will be looking at two main concern areas: alleged lack of adequate DGCA checks on airwothiness of aircraft and operating standards. ICAO had found "significant safety" fears on the lack of regulatory checks on repairs carried out on aircraft.

Airlines here send planes for repairs to aircraft manufacturers but no one certifies the changes made. The desperate condition of DGCA is made clear by one more thing. It has 570 posts sanctioned for technical staff. It has managed to fill 320by hiring a number of retired people as consultants. The staff strength will swell by 130 next month but they would take a long time to become experts.

Source: http://timesofindia.feedsportal.com/c/33039/f/533916/s/2e63e0a7/l/0Ltimesofindia0Bindiatimes0N0Cindia0CIndias0Eflying0Esafety0Estandards0Eunder0Eforeign0Ebodies0Escanner0Carticleshow0C20A9822230Bcms/story01.htm

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