New Delhi, February 24 The aviation watchdog, DGCA, on Tuesday said that safety lapses cannot simply be blamed on pilots, as it announced a series of strict safety measures for non-scheduled flight operators, including public disclosure of aircraft maintenance history and a safety ranking mechanism, in the wake of recent plane crashes.
A day after a plane, operated by a non-scheduled operator (NSOP), crashed in Jharkhand, killing seven people on board, the DGCA held a meeting with all such operators on Tuesday.
The meeting was held to "address a recent surge in aviation incidents and emphasized the critical need for increased focus on safety across the sector," the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a statement.
"Safety must remain the absolute priority, superseding all commercial considerations, charter commitments, or VIP movements. The authority asserted that an organization's leadership must prioritize safety above all other criteria."
"To support this, the authority reaffirmed that the Pilot-in-Command's decision to divert, delay, or cancel a flight for safety reasons is final and must be respected by operators without any commercial consequences," the statement said.
Sending out a strong warning, the regulator said that accountable managers and senior leadership of NSOPs would be held personally responsible for systemic non-compliances and stressed that "safety lapses cannot simply be blamed on pilots".
Among other steps, the DGCA will conduct intensive audits of NSOPs, wherein there would be increased random Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) audits, cross verification of ADS-B data, fuel records, and technical logs to detect unauthorised operations or the "falsifying" of data.
Apart from the requirement of public disclosure of critical safety information, including aircraft age and maintenance history, the DGCA said there would be a safety ranking of the NSOPs.
Pilots of NSOPs would face stricter penalties for non-compliance and could even face suspension of licenses for up to five years.
The regulator said there would be increased monitoring of NSOPs' older aircraft, as well as those undergoing ownership changes.
"The regulator will audit NSOPs that run their own Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facilities; those found lacking adequacy will be required to outsource maintenance to approved organisations," the statement said.
Further, the operators have to establish real-time weather update systems and ensure strict compliance with Standard Operating Practices (SOPs).
After completion of the first phase of the special safety audit of NSOPs in early March, the second phase covering the remaining NSOPs will be undertaken.
"Additionally, a physical workshop on safety will be convened following the completion of current intensive audits to ensure all stakeholders are aligned with these new operational mandates," DGCA said in the statement.
The DGCA said the high-level interaction with NSOPs on Tuesday followed a comprehensive review of accident data from the past decade, which identified non-adherence to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), inadequate flight planning, and training deficiencies as the primary causative factors in aircraft accidents.
The crash on Monday was the second in less than a month, involving a plane operated by a non-scheduled operator. On January 28, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others died in a plane crash near Baramati.